The Winter Challenge
by mikotyzini
Summary: This is the story of Blake and Yang...but let's give credit where credit is due. This is the story of Weiss. And how it sometimes takes true genius to bring two stubborn fools together.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! This is a silly idea written for fun, nothing too serious! I just really wanted to write Bumblebee through Weiss' POV with some background White Rose.**

**I made some changes to get this story to work better, such as Team SSSN going to school at Beacon. Please just roll with it! **

* * *

"Weiss. Weiss - helloooo, Remnant to Weiss!"

A gentle tap on Weiss' forehead brought her back to the cafeteria table, where silver eyes stared into her own.

"What?" The response was snappy, which was uncalled for given that she was the one caught not paying attention. "What do you need, Ruby?" she rephrased in a more tolerant tone.

"And people call me the spacey one!" Ruby teased, not at all perturbed by Weiss' first response. "Can we have a team practice today? I wanna try out some new moves!"

"Sure, sure, anything you want," Weiss replied while her attention drifted away. "You're the leader, after all…"

Satisfied with that answer, Ruby hummed happily and resumed eating dinner. Meanwhile, Weiss returned her attention to the source of her 'spaciness.'

Was she actually spacey? No. She was _observant_. It was one of the traits she was proudest of, actually. In the midst of battle, she could pick out a species of tree that was out of place for that terrain. During class, she could determine which students failed to adequately study for the exam (one or two of them usually on her own team…).

But Ruby was right - when Weiss was busy observing a particular anomaly, she could be a little 'spacey.' The side effect of such highly-focused scrutiny was that she paid little attention to less important matters. To her, it was an acceptable tradeoff. Especially when a meaningful interaction was happening across the crowded cafeteria right at this moment, and she was keen to observe it in full.

It might not seem like a particularly important situation. Blake and Yang were merely picking up their food from the lunchline, after all, but they had Weiss' (nearly) undivided attention.

While the line crawled past the displays of food, Yang chatted nonstop (what else was new) while Blake nodded and smiled or laughed when appropriate. To anyone else, the interaction probably looked like two friends having a good day while picking up plates of mediocre spaghetti and garlic bread.

It _was_ convincing. Weiss would admit that even she failed to notice the subtle differences for the first few months they'd been a team. Now that she knew her teammates better, however, the changes were jarring. Now she couldn't _not_ see what was going on between the two of them.

Less observant people would never catch on, but Weiss saw it clear as day. It was obvious in the way Blake laughed or smiled easier with Yang than with anyone else. Or how Yang leaned into Blake's shoulder in a friendly yet endearing way. Or how Blake always looked like she was on the verge of a smile when Yang was around, even though she was notoriously reserved and unemotional. Or how Yang broke into a huge smile whenever Blake so much as _looked_ at her.

It was only entirely obvious. They liked each other - _like_ liked.

As soon as the pair exited the lunchline and headed towards the table, Weiss averted her eyes so they wouldn't spot her staring.

" - called the Flying Wingman!" Ruby babbled on, oblivious to Weiss' diverted attention. "I was thinking one of us could throw the other, but we need to stop pretty dang quick when we reach the Grimm..."

"Hey guys!" Yang greeted them while setting her tray on the table.

"Yang! I have new team ideas!" Ruby said before launching into her list from the beginning - which was fortunate since Weiss hadn't paid attention the first time through.

But mealtimes normally went like this. Ruby and Yang dominated the conversation, by far. Weiss battled to add her two cents. And Blake offered a few well-placed, well-timed words when appropriate.

"- then you and Blake circle around," Ruby explained, drawing a looping circle through the air with her fork. "And meet up with us at the front -" The fork joined a knife, which Weiss supposed represented herself and Ruby. "And then we crush it!"

The fork and knife jabbed into Ruby's piece of garlic bread before she lifted it up and bit off the corner with a smile.

"So we're trying that out pronto, right?" Yang asked with a big grin. As usual, she was gung-ho to try anything and everything Ruby suggested, even if (or _especially_ if) the ideas sounded extremely ill-advised.

"Team practice tonight," Ruby announced, her proclamation setting their evening activity in stone. "We can probably score a room after dinner."

"Hopefully after we've had time to digest," Blake murmured before smiling at Yang - almost as if she knew Yang would pick up the conversation from there.

"Agreed - dinner, digest, then destroy some simulated Grimm!" Clenching one fist, Yang grinned when Blake laughed at the enthusiastic response.

But Yang grinned whenever Blake laughed, _period_.

"I hope we can also practice some of our _current_ moves," Weiss added, determined to keep their practices somewhat on topic. "As nice as it is to constantly add new strategies to our repertoire, it's also important to perfect the ones we already have -"

"Yeah, yeah, Miss Perfection here to ruin the fun," Yang griped, shooting Weiss a smirk that she returned with a scoff.

"Wanting to have a few perfect fallbacks is 'ruining the fun?'" When Yang nodded, Weiss rolled her eyes and ignored the response. Yet another instance of Yang being difficult just because.

"But Weiss is right!"

Finding Ruby nodding emphatically, Weiss couldn't help but smile.

"We'll work on a couple new things," Ruby added. "But the rest of the time we'll work on stuff we already have."

It was a compromise, of sorts, but Ruby agreed with Weiss - and that's what was most important. Since Ruby was their team leader, Yang couldn't complain. Well, she _could_ (and often _would_) complain, but in the end she always bent to Ruby's wishes. As it should be.

"I'm on board with that," was all Yang said. "As long as we get to try a new thing or two."

"We will! But which ones do you want to try?"

"What're the options?"

When Ruby and Yang launched into a complicated decision-making process to figure out which of Ruby's newest creations made the cut this evening, Weiss subtly moved her attention to Blake. She had to be careful though - if she was too overt about it, Blake would notice and question Weiss' motives. But if she casually snuck a glance every so often, no suspicions were raised.

Blake listened to the conversation intently, but her gaze drifted in Yang's direction every few seconds as if making sure Yang was still sitting beside her. And whenever Yang spoke, Blake turned fully towards her partner and listened with such rapt attention that a bomb could probably go off next door and she wouldn't hear.

Again, it was so obvious. For more observant-minded people, of course.

Unfortunately, their relationship had been stuck like this for quite some time now. Weiss kept expecting something..._anything_...to happen, but nothing did. It was actually quite aggravating to witness because it was _obvious _they liked each other. It was _obvious _they got along great together. It was _obvious_ that they were attracted to each other. And yet...nothing.

Maybe they would get together eventually, but...Weiss wasn't exactly known for her otherworldly levels of patience. It wasn't meddling if it was well-intentioned, right?

"Totally on board with that," Yang commented while leaning back and drawing Weiss out of her thoughts.

When Yang casually dropped one arm on the back of Blake's chair, Weiss suppressed a smile while Blake tried not to look _too_ happy about the nonchalant gesture. From the way Yang chuckled and ran her other hand through her hair - a habit that was either bored or nervous depending on the circumstances - Weiss wondered if the action was really as nonchalant as it appeared. Maybe it was actually a calculated move on Yang's part - a sly attempt to be that much closer to Blake.

"What do you think, Weiss?" Ruby asked, drawing Weiss' gaze once more.

Though she didn't know what Ruby and Yang ultimately decided, she trusted Ruby's decision-making - something she never thought she would be able to say when they first became partners.

"Whatever you think is best," she replied with a smile.

"Then that's what we'll do!"

"Awesome." Yang leaned closer to Blake and smiled, which made it impossible to tell if she was nervous about her arm's proximity to Blake's shoulders. "I'm _so_ looking forward to winter break," she added instead. "No classes, no homework, no practice...just five days of hanging around being lazy."

The words tore Weiss' attention away from what she swore was a blush on Blake's cheeks.

"That's...so incorrect," she said, startled by Yang's lack of understanding about their impending break from classes. "You realize we have a paper due right after break, right? Plus, we'll be competing in The Winter Challenge."

For all the grief Yang gave Weiss about 'knowing what was going on,' at least she wasn't the one who looked like a deer in headlights right now.

"Uh, the what now?"

With a loud sigh, Weiss gave Yang an annoyed look while passing Ruby the cookie from her tray.

"We won't have classes, but there's still a lot to do. You should probably look further in your calendar than today." She opted for a light insult rather than explaining something Yang should already know. They received a handout last week that went over the details, after all. Of course, her teammates probably hadn't read it...

"Uh...Weiss?"

Turning away from Yang, Weiss discovered that Ruby was just as confused as her sister.

"What's The Winter Challenge?"

Sighing again, Weiss knew that she would explain to Ruby even though she refused to be as lenient with Yang. But Ruby was her partner, and she was responsible for making sure their somewhat-bumbling leader stayed on top of things. Otherwise, they would never finish their team projects on time.

"The Winter Challenge is a series of small events that teams compete in over break," she explained to Ruby (if someone else at the table happened to overhear, that was unfortunate but acceptable). "There are team-building activities, but also a fighting tournament at the end. Teams earn points based on how well they do, and the team with the most points at the end of break wins."

The specific challenges varied from year-to-year, with some being rather goofy while others were more serious. The only thing that never changed was that it all took place over winter break and was for first-year teams only.

"Is it mandatory?" Ruby asked.

"Well, no, but it is if you want to win."

At Weiss' response, Ruby and Yang shared one of those looks that said the two were considering not participating in favor of relaxing and accepting the embarrassing loss. It was a look that made Weiss sigh again.

Everything was carrot with these two - they wouldn't get out of bed if they weren't offered a reward.

"The winning team gets unscheduled access to the upper level sparing rooms for the rest of the year."

As suspected, Ruby and Yang's eyes widened, and their jaws dropped.

"Are you serious?" Yang asked. "That's _awesome!_"

"We have to win that!" Ruby added before reaching across the table to give her sister a high-five.

Shaking her head at the response, Weiss tried to share a look of commiseration with Blake...but Blake was too busy looking disappointed that Yang had moved her arm in order to slap Ruby's hand.

Well, if Blake _had_ been paying attention, she and Weiss could've shared their woes of having such a...dynamic duo...of sisters for partners. Fortunately, Yang and Ruby were easy to deal with once you figured out how to bribe them. Offer something shiny, 'awesome,' valuable, or (in Ruby's case) sweet, and they practically tripped over themselves trying to earn it.

In this instance, however, the reward justified their enthusiastic pursuit. The upper-level combat rooms were _way_ better than what the underclassmen were given access to. Top of the line technology allowed almost infinite combat scenarios. They could spawn Atlesians - thousands of them if need be. And unscheduled access...they could walk in whenever they wanted.

The teams in the lower years were excited about it. Even Blake, who rarely got excited for anything other than a new book (and Yang), looked interested in such a good reward. As for Weiss...well, she had one of the rooms growing up, so she knew how advantageous it was for training. That technology could take their team to the next level, and hopefully to the top of their class - or the school.

"Weiss." A gentle nudge accompanied Ruby's whisper. "Are you gonna finish that?"

Glancing at her partially-finished tray of food, Weiss shook her head and shoved it Ruby's way. When Ruby let out a delighted squeal, Weiss smiled and watched Ruby inhale the rest of her dinner.

"I don't know who taught her to eat that fast," Yang said from across the table, drawing an amused smirk from her partner.

"You can't even guess?" Blake asked while nodding at Yang's empty tray.

"Ok, clearly I had to eat fast for survival," Yang complained, gesturing towards Ruby. "I grew up with _that_. If you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat!"

Giggling at the response, Ruby finished Weiss' food then wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"When I got fast enough, I'd steal food off their plates without them noticing!"

Yang pointed at Ruby while raising her brow at Blake, who laughed and shook her head in disbelief.

"Are you sure they didn't notice?" Weiss asked, earning a sincere nod from Ruby at the same time Yang shook her head.

"You kinda notice when half your sandwich suddenly disappears," Yang added. "Watch." Reaching over, she snatched half of the garlic bread from Blake's tray and smiled. "There. Notice anything missing?"

"Yes. It appears you're missing a few screws." When Blake tried to snatch her bread back, Yang held it just out of reach.

"You've gotta pay the toll."

"And what is this 'toll?'"

When Yang turned to the side and tapped a finger to her cheek, Weiss actually held her breath in anticipation. Would Blake take the bait? Would she actually kiss Yang on the cheek?

"How about I let you sleep tonight?" Blake countered, her dry tone not giving away any butterflies if she had them.

"Ghost Blake is so much fun though!"

"She won't be fun tonight…"

Conversations like these were how Weiss uncovered their feelings for each other. How many times could she watch them casually flirt with one another before it became obvious they flirted for a reason - because they _wanted_ to flirt. She expected that behavior from Yang, but Blake's participation was a dead giveaway that something else was going on.

While the two engaged in yet another round of light-hearted banter, Weiss' gaze drifted around the cafeteria in search of anything else she needed to know. Team CRDL was making airplanes out of napkins and tossing them around the room, and most of Team SSSN sat nearby, raptly watching something unfold on the other side of the cafeteria.

Curious as to what they were watching, Weiss looked in that direction and saw Neptune talking to Velvet. Even from this distance, his posture and smile gave away that he was attempting to charm the girl into a date. The interaction only lasted a second, however, before Yatsuhashi came to his teammate's aid and gave Neptune a stern shake of his head.

Accepting the subtle instruction with a laugh, Neptune waved goodbye and headed back to his team. While they gave him a hero's welcome for risking his neck to flirt with Velvet, Weiss shook her head.

"He'll get himself punched in the face one day…" she mused. Not that Neptune seemed to understand the fine line he approached with many of the students at Beacon. At a school of huntsmen, every person he unsuccessfully hit on was capable of leveling him without much effort. So far, he'd escaped with his ego unscatched. It was only a matter of time though…

Sensing a lull fall over her team, Weiss glanced around the table and found that almost everyone had finished. The last one eating, as usual, was Blake - but she looked uninterested in her food by this point.

"Should we head back now?" Weiss asked. Once they had Blake's approval, they got to their feet - some of them faster than others (Ruby's chair actually fell over in her haste).

"Team RWBY out!" was directed to no one in general, to which Weiss rolled her eyes as they set out for their dorm room together. Sometimes, she still thought it was strange to have a team - to have friends that she could walk to and from the cafeteria with. If her childhood had taught her anything, it was that she walked alone.

Only she didn't. Not anymore, at least. Ruby immediately fell into step by her side while Blake and Yang trailed behind them.

Ruby walked in front for a variety of reasons - the most important being that she was as jittery as a shaken can of soda. She was also the team leader. And there was the small fact that Yang walked in a slow amble that drove Weiss insane.

Seriously, she had no idea how Blake matched Yang's pace so effortlessly. If there was one specific reason she could point out to prove that they were meant to be together, it was _that_. Their paces matched - that was as good as determined by fate itself.

Although she didn't know what that said about her and Ruby...because she had to speed walk to match Ruby's pace. They arrived everywhere in a timely manner though, which was an acceptable tradeoff. The fast pace meant they reached their room before their teammates, but that was nothing new. It also wasn't new that Ruby raced forward to open the door and smiled when Weiss walked in first.

The gesture was unnecessary but appreciated, and Weiss made sure to smile in return before heading straight to her desk to find the handout for The Winter Challenge. Because she was more organized than Yang and Ruby combined, she knew exactly where she'd put it.

Pulling out the single page while Ruby dove onto Weiss' bed and Yang collapsed onto Blake's, Weiss walked over and sat next to her partner while re-reading the instructions.

"Did you throw this away?" she asked, holding the page out for Ruby to see.

"Uh...I mean...I throw away anything you don't tell me to keep..." Ruby admitted before reading through the sheet. Midway through the page, her eyes widened. "A race around the school?" Jumping off the bed, she ran over to show Yang the paper. "Do you see that?"

Narrowing her eyes to read the small print, Yang briefly paused and turned to the side when Blake moved closer to read over her shoulder. Grinning at their proximity, she continued reading.

"Wow. Tuesday is _literally_ a race around Beacon. Are semblances allowed?"

"Why don't you read the rules and find out," Weiss replied, earning herself a face for the sarcasm.

"Yes, semblances are allowed," Blake answered instead. "If there aren't specific rules, assume that anything goes."

"Wait, how do you know this?" Yang asked, leaning back and looking at Blake. "You've been holding out on me, Belladonna?"

Shrugging at Yang's surprise, Blake dragged a book off of the nightstand and scooted back to the wall to start reading. "I thought you knew," was all she said before her attention moved to the pages in her hands.

"This is totally the face of someone in the know," Yang joked before nudging Ruby in the side and reading through the rest of the list. "Ok, we've got this thing in the bag! Ruby's gonna lap people in the race, we've got the team fights on lock, and a scavenger hunt? Please - Blake's on our team! They should just hand over our prize right now."

While her teammates discussed the challenge, Weiss smiled to herself. A full week away from classes, filled with free time and team-bonding activities, sounded like the perfect opportunity to gently nudge one half of the team into some situations that might help them uncover their feelings.

As long as they still won, she was happy.

"You think JNPR's in on this?" Yang asked, lowering the page and looking at Ruby - or at least, looking where Ruby had just been. Left in her place was a cloud of petals floating to the floor while the door flew open and rapid knocking hit the door across the hall.

"Jaune!" Ruby yelled. "Open up! We have a question!"

After several seconds of waiting, Team JNPR's door opened, but it was Nora standing there to greet Ruby.

"Oh great," Weiss muttered before sharing a look with Yang at what was about to come.

"What's _up_, Ruby?" Nora said while jabbing Ruby's shoulder. From the way Ruby stepped back and rubbed that spot, the friendly greeting hurt a bit.

"Oh, hey Nora! Where's Jaune?"

"Out training with Pyrrha, as usual." Nora shook her head and pouted. "Don't know why I'm never allowed to go with them."

Weiss heard a muffled voice and saw Nora look into the room, probably listening to Ren's explanation for exactly why she wasn't allowed to go.

"That only happened _once_," she whined to her partner before forgetting the conversation and looking at the paper in Ruby's hands, which had been snatched from Yang on her flight out the door. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh, it's the -"

"Ruby!" Weiss called out, leaping up from her bed and walking quickly into the hall. "We're supposed to have a practice tonight, remember? Trying out some new combat moves?"

Apparently the 'deer in headlights' look ran in the family, because that was the same expression looking back at her right now.

"Uh, yeah, but first I thought -"

Before Ruby finished the sentence, Nora snatched the paper from her hands and hopped several steps away.

"Nora!" Weiss said, but it was already too late. Nora's eyes widened while she read the details of a challenge she probably hadn't known existed until now - and that was by design. When dealing with anything slightly competitive - be it friendly or otherwise - the information was supposed to be disseminated in a strict order. The details should go to Jaune, Pyrrha, or Ren first (in any particular order). _Nothing _should be given to Nora first, because then she decided what she wanted to do with it and...well...it wasn't always pretty.

"Holy - Grimm! Ren!" Waving the paper in the air, Nora stuck her head back into the room. "Did you know about this? We have to win!"

Putting her face in one hand, Weiss sighed and shook her head at Ruby, who was, of course, blissfully unaware of the monster she just created.

"Where are Jaune and Pyrrha?" Nora asked. "We have to start preparing right now!" Without waiting for a response, she tore down the hall. Several seconds later, Ren walked to the door and dipped his head to Weiss and Ruby.

"Sorry, Ren," Weiss apologized, but he shook his head and gave her a small smile.

"She would have found out eventually, I'm sure." With those words, he nodded again before following his partner at a brisk pace.

"I guess they're in!" Happy with the end result, Ruby trotted back into their room with a smile. Weiss followed Ruby inside before closing the door and shaking her head at how that interaction went sideways - and how Nora just stole her copy of the instructions.

"So...you told Nora..." Yang's grin said much more than her words, especially when she looked at Weiss with amused lilac eyes.

"Yup! She sounded really excited about it."

"'Excited' is one word for it," Blake mumbled while turning a page.

"Uh, Ruby?" Weiss asked, drawing Ruby's confused attention. When she made a gesture with one hand, Ruby looked at her own hand before waving.

"Uh, hi Weiss!"

Yang laughed at the response while Weiss sighed and forced a patient smile.

"Hi Ruby. Did you happen to bring back my handout?"

Seeing as how Ruby's hands were empty, Weiss already knew the answer to that. Ruby's eyes widened though, and she flew into the hall without saying a word. She was back only a few seconds later, however, with still-empty hands.

"Uh...so…" she began to say, looking so sheepish and sad that Weiss immediately smiled so that she would cheer up.

"It's fine," she assured her partner before turning to Blake. "Blake, do you still have your handout?"

"Sure. It's in my purple notebook."

Taking that response as permission to retrieve the paper herself, Weiss went over to Blake's desk and grabbed a purple notebook from beneath a stack of books. After flipping open the front cover, she found exactly what she was looking for - a single piece of paper stuck between the pages.

And she found something she _hadn't_ been looking for - several doodles in the margins that looked remarkably like a certain blonde-haired brawler with a penchant for fire.

She wanted to laugh at the adorable discovery - or tease Blake about the lack of little hearts drawn over doodle-Yang's head - or, at the very least, analyze the drawings in greater detail - but she didn't want to raise Blake's suspicions. She'd obviously forgotten that the pictures were left right where Weiss would see them, and she would be mortally embarrassed if Weiss pointed it out.

Why would she be embarrassed about leaking infatuation all over her coursework? That's what every student at Beacon seemed to do instead of paying attention in class. Except Weiss, of course. But they couldn't all be her.

Being mindful of Blake's feelings, however, Weiss gave the notebook a cursory once-over (she particularly liked the drawing of Yang wearing Blake's combat outfit - that was a nice touch) before closing it and setting it back on the desk.

"Thank you," she replied, waving the paper so Blake knew she'd found it.

"Of course."

Blake smiled - oblivious to the visible pieces of affection she was scattering around - before her gaze moved away when Yang leaned closer to her. From the amount of shampoo Yang used on her excessive amounts of luxurious hair, Blake was probably getting a big whiff of citrus right now. But she probably loved the smell.

To each their own. Personally, Weiss was partial to the subtle scent of roses that Ruby carried with her everywhere. It was light and refreshing, which was also the perfect way to describe Ruby.

"Real quick," Weiss said, capturing her teammates' attentions and motioning to the paper in her hands. "We should come up with a strategy."

When Yang slumped into Blake's side and Blake blushed at her partner's presence, Weiss knew this was the perfect thread of conversation to follow. Maybe if she talked about the challenge enough, the two of them would meld into one.

"It's five separate events," she explained, trying not to smile when Yang dropped her head onto Blake's shoulder. "One per day on Monday through Friday. Points are awarded based on team placement in each challenge, and the final winner is the team that did best in all five."

Hearing a loud sigh, Weiss looked away from the schedule and found that Yang had straightened up - which probably meant the explanation went too far.

"Do you have something to add?" she asked, and Yang rolled her eyes.

"I'm on board for winning, but I think you're taking it too seriously."

Weiss pursed her lips at the response, although she should have expected it. Sometimes talking to Yang was like eating slices of lemons - it _looked _like it might be good, but when you bit into it, you realized it wasn't good at all.

"You can't win without preparation."

"Sure," Yang replied with a dismissive wave. "But consider our competition. There's CRDL - who are too lazy to get up early. SSSN - who won't take this seriously _at all_. And JNPR, who might be kinda difficult, but we've beaten them plenty of times before. Why go all out when we've already got this in the bag?"

While Yang, Blake, and Ruby waited for a response, Weiss pursed her lips and tried to find a logical answer.

The points Yang made were valid. Based on the activities, JNPR would be their main competition. While Weiss was confident they could beat JNPR in combat six or seven times out of ten, she had less confidence when it came to more esoteric activities like scavenger hunts.

"Because we should always try our best at everything we do!" Ruby cut in, coming to Weiss' aid and making Yang groan in the process.

"Again with the Mom-ism?" she bemoaned, but everyone knew she just lost that argument handily. Disagreeing with Ruby's Mom-based logic was willingly going against the ideals they all believed in - working hard, being good people, and striving to create a better world for everyone. Admitting that she wanted to be lazy was just that - admitting that she wanted to be lazy.

Thankfully, 'lazy' wasn't a word that applied to any of them. While a few students at Beacon could easily be labeled 'slackers,' that wasn't the case with their team. Each of them possessed the drive and determination to become the best huntresses possible. Even though some of them took coursework less seriously than others, they made up for it by taking training and workouts extra seriously.

In a nutshell, Yang wasn't lazy. Even though she might have had different plans for winter break than competing in a series of team challenges, she couldn't stand idly by if they were going to compete without her.

"Fine." Leaning forward, Yang clasped her hands in front of her. "What do you need us to do, Miss Strategy?"

Taking the nickname as a compliment, Weiss skimmed the schedule. Now that they were in agreement, she knew her teammates would help her - _their team_ \- win. Maybe some of them weren't as serious about it as she was, but at least they were somewhat-willing participants. And with Yang (and therefore Blake) on board, she could work on her _other_ objective for winter break.

Unfortunately, nothing about a week's worth of team-bonding activities screamed 'this will push two stubborn fools closer together' or 'this will provide ample opportunities for flirting.' Of course, half of the Blake and Yang combo was Yang, who'd proven herself capable of flirting in any and every type of situation. Weiss just needed to get them time together, and Yang would do the rest on her own.

At least, _theoretically_ Yang would do the rest on her own. Considering how much flirting had already happened with nothing coming out of it, Weiss didn't have much faith left in Yang's abilities. The girl could probably convince a tree branch to go to a dance with her, but couldn't ask a hopelessly-smitten kitten on a date.

Weiss didn't understand how Blake was immune to Yang's charms, but as long as she put up with the excessive-yet-unproductive flirting, a final nudge could be provided later on (courtesy of a certain someone). What was most important right now was getting them both _thinking_ about being together - not in a friendly way, but in a _much more than_ friendly way.

"They won't announce the time of the events until right before," Weiss said, pointing out the fine print at the bottom of the page. "So we need to be ready to go at a moment's notice."

While her teammates nodded at the instruction, she decided to take it a step further - for clarity's sake.

"Which means we should probably stick together the entire break," she added while giving Yang and Blake a pointed look. "That way we don't have to track down someone."

"You want _all _of us to stick together...for the entire break?" Blake did nothing to mask the disbelief in her tone, which was so typical of her. She hid all of the _good_ emotions but let the disbelieving, doubtful, or dry comments through.

"No, that's too difficult," Weiss replied with a shake of her head. "I'm thinking we partner up - Ruby and I will stick close, and you and Yang stay close too."

"Oh." Visibly relieved by the suggestion, Blake sat back. "That sounds like a good idea."

What Blake _meant_ to say was that she loved the idea of spending more time with Yang without those other two troublesome teammates around, but she didn't have to say it out loud. The more perceptive amongst them caught the hidden meaning behind the response.

With Blake on board, Yang was on board - the two of them obliviously agreeing to handcuff themselves together for an entire week. Because nothing spelled 'romance' faster than a week of concentrated exposure and uninterrupted quality time.

"Perfect." After glancing at Ruby and receiving a nod - a simple agreement to their plan - Weiss carried on. "They kept some of the challenges a mystery," she explained, looking at the blank spaces on Monday and Wednesday. "But other than that, Ruby should be in charge of the race."

When Weiss looked at Ruby, who'd been reading the page over Weiss' shoulder, she straightened up smiled.

"You bet!"

Nodding at the response - which was one easy win - Weiss then nodded towards Blake.

"And Blake is in charge of the scavenger hunt."

Blake nodded and smiled - and that smile grew when Yang offered her a high-five (which she accepted).

"You're gonna crush that," Yang added before turning back to Weiss. "Guessing we're all in charge of the team tournament."

"Yes."

"Well that's easy - you made it sound like this would be super hard or something."

"Five timed and extremely competitive events against our classmates isn't difficult?" Weiss asked, to which Yang merely shrugged and looked at Blake.

"Not with Blake on our team…"

"It'll be fun!" Ruby said, adding her stamp of approval to their plans for the upcoming week. "We can relax and eat and work on homework and win a competition! Sounds like an awesome break to me."

Hopping to her feet, Ruby stood on the floor between their beds and did a full-spin with her semblance. Somehow, with those quick actions, she changed the mood of the room from planning and careful calculation to upbeat and energetic.

"But aren't we going to practice?" she carried on. "We're supposed to practice!"

While Ruby looked at the three of them, her hands extended as if that would get them moving faster, Weiss nodded and set the paper on her bed.

"Yes!" After an adorable fist pump, Ruby pointed out the door and said "Team RWBY practice!"

Weiss rolled her eyes but went to her drawers and pulled out her combat gear. On the other side of the room, Blake reluctantly closed her book and accepted Yang's hand to pull her off the bed.

"It'll be fun," Yang said, reassuring Blake that practice was worth leaving the story behind. From Blake's smile, the simple words worked - and Weiss could only imagine the unspoken response flitting through Blake's mind: 'Anything is fun with you.'

Something like that.

But, because Blake didn't say the words out loud, Yang never heard them and probably didn't realize how she worked wonders in convincing Blake to leave the room behind. How many times had Weiss and Ruby tried to coerce Blake to put her book down only for Yang to flounce through and have Blake ready to go in a heartbeat?

There were plenty of reasons why the two of them were meant to be together - too many for Weiss to list without being interrupted at least twice by Ruby.

When the four of them were ready to go, dressed and with weapons in hand, they headed towards the combat rooms across campus. While they crossed the path they knew by heart, Weiss' thoughts drifted to their impending break from school.

They would compete in The Winter Challenge, but she had a little challenge of her own - she would get Yang and Blake on the same page before break was over. They were basically there already, after all. They just needed a good nudge - and Weiss loved being the one to provide the nudging.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she glanced over and caught a smile from Ruby.

"Ready?"

While Ruby was referring to their impending practice, Weiss glanced over her shoulder and spotted Yang and Blake smiling at each other about something - looking like two love-struck fools who'd like nothing more than to get marooned on a desert island together.

"Definitely," she replied, watching Yang teasingly reach for Gambol Shroud while Blake dodged away without breaking stride. Eventually, Yang's hopeless persistence made Blake laugh - which made Yang laugh - which made Weiss smile as she turned back to Ruby.

It was only the beginning of break, but things were already moving in the right direction. They had a plan for The Winter Challenge, and if Weiss played her cards right, she could get Yang and Blake an entire week of concentrated time together. At that point, how could they possibly resist their feelings?

She doubted they could, which meant she was winning both challenges this winter. And she liked winning. It was, arguably, the thing she was best at.

"Let the games begin."


	2. Chapter 2

Monday arrived sooner than expected - possibly because they spent the weekend practicing and working on homework, possibly because the weekends always flew by when Weiss was with her team (or, in the case of Blake and Yang, possibly because they spent every second shamelessly flirting with one another).

If someone told her before move-in day that her favorite memories of Beacon would occur outside the hours of organized instruction, she would've called them crazy. The sole reason she enrolled was for the esteemed academics - what possible use could she have for free time besides getting ahead on studying? How things had changed…

What hadn't changed, however, was that she still woke up earlier than most, and most definitely before her teammates. She was the first one awake on the majority of mornings, with the lone exceptions being the days when one of her teammates stayed up all night working on a late project, reading a book, or trying to beat the last level of a video game (she gave Ruby a hard time about that one, especially when Blake beat it in one try).

Glancing at the clock and confirming it was time to get up, Weiss paused when she sensed that today was...different. Initially, she had difficulty putting her finger on the source of the feeling. It could be that they were normally rushing to class on a typical Monday. Or it could be that the air was so cold that she wanted to burrow under the covers rather than start the day. But what type of person would she be if she lollygagged in bed rather than take care of her responsibilities?

She'd be Yang - that's who she'd be. And, seeing as how they already had one Xiao Long on this team, they certainly didn't need another one.

With that in mind, she forced herself out of bed and regretted it the instant cold air touched her skin. Goosebumps appeared in no time, and her teeth chattered while she hurried to the dresser for warm clothes - that's when she glanced out the window and noticed something important.

It snowed last night, which explained the bone-chilling cold as well as the blanket of white covering every surface outside their window.

The first question that flitted through her mind was how this might affect the start of The Winter Challenge. Would it be postponed? Would it take place inside? Had it already been scheduled inside? The lack of details was maddening, in a way, because it meant they had to 'wait and see.' That was, without a doubt, her least favorite way of doing anything. Why 'wait and see' when they could take charge of their destinies?

But, since the weather and The Winter Challenge were out of her hands, she would have to 'wait and see' what the day would bring.

After collecting a warm outfit from her dresser, she tapped Ruby's shoulder before hurrying into the bathroom to get ready. Even though Ruby liked sleeping in (like her sister), she insisted that Weiss wake her up each morning. When pressed to explain _why_, Ruby gave a typical-Ruby response about how that's what partners should do, etc., etc.

Weiss was fairly certain that Ruby just didn't want to set an alarm, but agreed to the request anyway. Tapping Ruby's shoulder didn't take a tremendous amount of effort. Plus, the time it took for Ruby to wake up after Weiss' gentle alarm was just about the same as Weiss' much abbreviated morning routine.

Once upon a time, she had an elaborate morning routine, but that was before living in a room with three other girls and one bathroom. It became obvious on the first day that they all had to make concessions to make this living situation work, so they did.

She still felt so proud of how they handled the situation. While it might seem like a small or insubstantial accomplishment, it wasn't to her. Here was a group of strangers forced into the same room together - there was bound to be at least one person unwilling to give up as much as the rest. She was wrong, and never so happy to have been wrong.

After flying through her routine, she returned to the room right as Ruby dropped down from her bed. As usual, her first action of the day was to stand in the middle of the room, raise her arms high over her head, and yawn.

When Ruby's pajama top rode up, Weiss turned away and hurried over to her desk.

Ruby was in the midst of a growth spurt that made her seem taller each day. With their schedule, however, there wasn't exactly time to go shopping every weekend to buy clothes that fit her new frame - not that she or Yang had the money to do that anyway. As a result, her wardrobe looked a little..._little_...recently, which meant Weiss kept accidentally catching glimpses of Ruby's stomach and long (and growing longer) legs.

It wasn't a big issue, but perhaps Weiss could order some new clothes in sizes that lasted the rest of the year. The last thing they needed was for Ruby to become as immodest as Yang.

"Morning, Weiss!" Ruby called out before disappearing behind the bathroom door.

"Good morning," Weiss mumbled in response while busying herself at the desk. It wasn't long before Blake sighed and pushed off her covers, probably cursing the chill in the air even more than Weiss. Almost immediately after Blake sat up, Yang dropped down from her bunk without a second thought about the cold, even though she wore only a tank top and shorts to bed.

"Ughhh…" she groaned while stretching her back with an audible crack. "It's winter break. Do we have to get up so early?"

"You don't want to miss breakfast, do you?" Weiss replied.

"If it means I can sleep in? Sure."

Shaking her head at the response, Weiss gave up on the conversation in an effort to preserve her sanity. By now, she understood that she and Yang were fighting a never-ending battle over sleeping in versus waking up at a reasonable hour. Both of them insisted that their way was right, and both of them insisted that the 'right' way resulted in better results. Fortunately, Ruby was on Weiss' side, which meant she already won - Yang just didn't know it yet.

Instead, Yang turned towards Blake and smiled - one of those warm smiles that Blake probably likened to the sun rising on her perfect morning.

"Good morning," Yang directed to Blake, and Blake only.

"Good morning, Yang."

"You wanna go next?" Yang offered, motioning towards the bathroom when Ruby flew back into the room.

"No, you can go."

With Blake's permission, Yang smiled, grabbed a pile of clothes from her dresser, and headed to the bathroom. She hadn't made it through the door, however, before pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it into the hamper, giving everyone an unimpeded view of her back before the door closed.

Weiss rolled her eyes at the display, which was either boastful or shockingly immodest, but one of her teammates seemed to have difficulty diverting her gaze from where Yang just stood.

If Yang was around to witness the expression on Blake's face right now, she would probably say something along the lines of 'like what you see?' coupled with a sultry wink. Weiss couldn't get away with saying such a phrase, however, so she let the moment slide in favor of half-heartedly reading her notes from Professor Oobleck's class.

What doodles would Yang's display inspire Blake to draw later on...or had she already drawn them? Yang had pulled that little stunt for months now, so it was likely that Blake already found the inspiration or motivation to recreate her morning view of her partner's unclothed back.

If Weiss was a nosier person, she would check Blake's notebooks for more evidence of romantic feelings. But when she already knew that they liked each other, that was unnecessary and a waste of time.

...who was she kidding? She would do it if she knew she could get away with it. But Blake would figure it out somehow, and that would be the end of life as Weiss knew it. Even worse, Ruby would get involved and throw down the holy-stinging-grail of hurts - something like 'we don't choose who we love, but we choose who we _trust_.'

That sounded like a situation Weiss wanted to avoid at all costs, so she would just _imagine_ the other doodles lurking in the pages of Blake's notebooks.

While her teammates went about their morning routines, moving with sloth afforded by a day without classes, Weiss sat on pins and needles waiting for the inevitable notice to arrive. The Winter Challenge had officially started. At some point today, they would receive a time and location for the daily event, and who knew how much notice they would have to prepare.

What if they only had a few minutes? What if there wasn't enough time to make it to the location? If it was across campus, it could take quite a while, especially in the snow...

"We should build a snowman!" Ruby said, pulling Weiss out of her thoughts to find her teammates all dressed and ready for the day. Ruby and Yang stood by the window with matching smiles, and Weiss wasn't even vaguely surprised by the sight.

_Of course_ Ruby and Yang loved snow. That fit their personalities perfectly - affectionate, effusive, and playful through and through. And nothing said 'playful paradise' like a fresh blanket of thick, powdery snow.

"I'm not going outside," Blake replied while getting back into bed and pulling the covers over her legs as she settled in to read.

"But a snowman would be fun, right?" Sitting on the edge of Blake's bed, Yang playfully tugged at the covers (and _didn't_ lose her fingers). "Or snowwoman? We can make it a girl!"

"You go ahead. I'd rather stay here and read."

"Aww...but if you put on some warm clothes, you'll hardly feel the cold!"

Huffing in disbelief, Blake lifted her book in front of her eyes only for Yang to gently press it back down. If anyone else did that, Blake would probably bite their head off. Instead, Yang earned herself a slightly-stern expression.

"We're supposed to stick together, remember?" Yang said, her eyes never straying from Blake's. "Plus, I don't want to leave you here by yourself…"

The tender, caring tone worked like magic - that's the only way Weiss could describe it. Blake fought against it, but it was a losing battle like it usually was. How could someone turn away from the thoughtfulness rolling off Yang right now, especially when everyone in the room knew that building a snowman would make Yang _and_ Ruby happy?

Eventually, Blake sighed in (most likely pretend) annoyance and returned her book to the nightstand.

"You have to promise to stay close to me the _entire_ time. Otherwise, I won't go."

Laughing at the demand, which probably sounded more like heaven than a demand, Yang nodded and shook Blake's hand to solidify their deal. (Another gratuitous action with the sole purpose of touching Blake in any way, shape, or form - which Weiss noticed, of course.)

"I would've done that anyway," Yang added with another chuckle. "But yeah, I promise!"

Satisfied with the assurance of a personal heater following her around, Blake finally left the warm confines of her bed behind. Her feet hadn't yet touched the floor when a noise broke the silence - the unmistakable sound of an envelope sliding under the door.

As soon as they heard it, Ruby disappeared in a cloud of petals and raced into the hall. Quickly looking in both directions, she made a noise of consternation before walking back inside and grabbing the envelope from the floor.

"Still didn't catch them?" Weiss asked, trying to hide her amusement at Ruby's never-ending game of cat-and-mouse with the person in charge of delivering Beacon's official announcements.

"No! There's never anyone there!"

Weiss looked at Yang, who waggled her brow before grabbing the envelope from Ruby's hand and tearing it open.

"You've gotta be faster, Ruby," Yang teased at the same time, knowing just as well as Weiss that the person delivering the envelopes wouldn't be caught no matter how fast Ruby ran.

"How can I be _faster?_" Ruby mused, her brow adorably furrowed while she pondered the question. The rest of them smiled at Ruby's confusion while Yang pulled a card from the envelope and read aloud.

"'To the teams partaking in The Winter Challenge - please report to The Great Lawn in one hour.'" With a heavy sigh, Yang slipped the card back into its envelope and dropped it on top of the dresser. "Are they afraid that if they give us _one_ morning to do nothing, we'll never do anything again?"

"Wouldn't you?" Blake teased.

"Absolutely. I'd never get out of bed again. Ruby would have to bring me food and magazines."

"Which I'd totally do!" Ruby was quick to add before hopping in front of them and holding her arms out wide. "They gave us an hour though, so...breakfast?"

For some reason, Ruby looked at Weiss for approval, which was completely uncalled for. Weiss wasn't in charge of when they ate breakfast. Although she usually offered her opinion when she felt they were eating too early, too late, or too often, that was only so her teammates knew when they were off schedule or wasting time in the cafeteria.

"That sounds good," she replied regardless, and smiled when Ruby gave a delighted "Yes!" combined with a hop of joy.

After Ruby waved them towards the door, Yang smirked.

"You're so whipped."

"What does that even mean?" Weiss snapped, but she rolled her eyes when Yang shrugged and feigned innocence.

Making the executive decision not to pull on that thread any longer than necessary, Weiss left the room and quickly caught up with Ruby so they could walk to the cafeteria together. When Ruby looped her arm through Weiss' and tugged her closer, she smiled and felt her irritation from Yang's comment fade away.

It was strange - but nice - to have teammates and a partner to call her own. Before coming to Beacon, she never realized how incredibly lonely it was to fight as an individual. Sure, it gave her the ability to make her own decisions without any pesky input, but it also limited her ability to learn and adapt. It put the responsibility of survival squarely upon her shoulders, which she was perfectly fine with, but...it was nice to have a team to belong to - to _truly_ belong to.

Having a team eliminated the moments of isolation she'd learned to override with annoyance - like having no partner for school projects, having no friends to eat lunch with, having no one to walk next to in the hall.

Ruby was her built-in partner. In a way, Ruby _had_ to work with Weiss on projects (or risk failing them) and she...well, she didn't _have to_ eat lunch with Weiss, or walk with her to class, or make sure she was included in everything they did. She didn't have to do any of that, yet she did.

Maybe Ruby wasn't the partner Weiss would have chosen for herself, but now...she wouldn't choose anyone else.

"I'm so excited!" Ruby remarked with another happy hop.

For an instant, Weiss thought Ruby was referring to the upcoming challenge. It only took her a second, however, to realize that Ruby was excited about breakfast.

"Maybe they'll have something extra special today," Weiss suggested and smiled when Ruby let out an adorable little squeal and rushed forward to open the cafeteria door.

Because it was the first 'official' day of winter break, the cafeteria was emptier than normal. If Weiss had to guess, most of the school decided to take advantage of their rare time off and sleep in. Or, for the more motivated amongst them, the extra time meant extra practice. Knowing what she did about her fellow classmates, however, she wagered it was mostly the former…

Whatever the reason, she and her teammates walked into a mostly-empty room with no line and plenty of open tables.

"Uh...is it even open?" Ruby asked. From the slight smile, Weiss deduced that the question was a joke and not a legitimate query, which meant she didn't need to point out the obvious signs that the cafeteria was, in fact, open. From the unlocked doors to the workers setting out trays of food to the few students already eating, the answer was pretty obvious.

Thankfully, Weiss was learning how to differentiate between Ruby's jokes and her serious inquiries. It was hard to tell sometimes. Those innocent, doe-like eyes made it seem like she was lost, but in reality was far from it - thankfully. If Ruby was _actually_ that dense, Weiss would have to transfer to another institution. Or go to Professor Ozpin and demand a new partner, like she'd been prepared to do when school started.

"Most likely…" Blake mumbled while joining the non-existent line with Yang. When Ruby pouted at the dry response, Weiss laughed and patted her shoulder.

"I knew you were joking."

From what was a pretty menial comment, Weiss earned a blinding smile. For some reason, Ruby loved it when Weiss understood her jokes. And Weiss loved it when Ruby was happy, so...it was a win-win as long as she put in the effort to decipher what was innocence and what was levity.

After collecting their breakfasts (a collection of too-much-sugar and not-enough-nutrition), the four of them claimed their usual table and sat down to eat.

"Wonder what the first challenge is," Blake commented while sneaking a glance at Yang out of the corner of her eye. The look was subtle, but Weiss suppressed the urge to make a comment somewhere along the lines of 'don't worry - she's still there.' Instead, she smirked and glanced at Ruby, who was devouring her food like any typical day.

"Whatever it is, it's gonna be cold." Sensing Blake's adverse reaction to the word, Yang leaned into her partner's side and smiled. "But don't worry - I'll be glued to your side all day."

"Just today?" Weiss asked. When both girls looked at her with varying degrees of surprise written on their faces, she shrugged and picked up her spoon. "You're supposed to be together all week, remember?"

"Oh...right."

Before Weiss could respond to Yang's lackluster comment, Ruby pointed towards the cafeteria doors with her fork.

"Look! Pyrrha and Jaune are here!"

Pyrrha and Jaune picked that moment to walk into the cafeteria, conspicuously missing their other two teammates. Instead of picking up food, however, they spotted Team RWBY and walked over.

"Alright," Jaune said while pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. "Which one of you gave this to Nora?"

When he dropped the paper on the table, they leaned forward and found that it was the page Nora swiped from Ruby a couple days ago. This copy, which was once Weiss' pristine, unblemished handout, had been folded, crumpled, and written all over. One of the corners had torn off, and it looked like some type of orange fluid had spilled near the bottom.

Sight of the poor piece of paper made Weiss want to grimace, but she forced an impassive expression while reminding herself that this wasn't her copy anymore. Hers was lost - or stolen - and this was _Nora's_, not hers. She had Blake's copy, which was still in perfect condition sitting on the desk in their room.

"That would be Ruby," Yang answered, ratting out their leader.

"Well, I hope you weren't planning on winning," Jaune replied with a grin. "Because Nora's serious about this. So serious that she's competing in every challenge - by herself."

For a second, that statement failed to register with the four of them, as they looked at each other in confusion. Eventually, Ruby voiced their shared question.

"By herself?"

"By herself," Pyrrha repeated, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "After making us practice all weekend, she decided we weren't trying hard enough to win, so she told us to 'take a hike.'"

"How will she even do the events on her own?" Weiss asked, struggling to wrap her head around this unexpected change. "Some of the challenges are specifically team or partner-oriented."

"Ren will join her on the partner stuff," Jaune replied with a shrug. "He volunteered."

"Nora made him promise to help," Pyrrha whispered behind one hand before laughing.

"If they're the only ones competing…" Blake said, glancing at Yang before turning back to Jaune and Pyrrha. "Then what are you going to do?"

After looking at each other, Jaune and Pyrrha both gave some measure of shrug or uncertain response.

"Hang out, I guess?"

"We can have some partner practices," Pyrrha suggested. "Or just take it easy."

The response shocked Weiss - because she couldn't imagine 'taking it easy' when there was a challenge to be won. And because she couldn't believe that Pyrrha Nikos, of all people, was ducking out of a competition.

"Surely you're kidding," she replied with a shake of her head. "You won't actually skip, will you?"

Their attention returned to Pyrrha, who looked surprisingly comfortable with her decision. And when she met Weiss' gaze, it was with a relaxed expression.

"I've skipped every break for the last fifteen years of my life. I'd like to think I've earned some time off by now."

Setting a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, Jaune gave a gentle squeeze and smiled.

"You deserve it," he said before turning back to the rest of the table. "We all do! Well, maybe not you guys, cuz I'm guessing you're going all out for this."

Weiss scoffed at the idea that they would do anything other than 'go all out' for this challenge, but noticed that her teammates shared glances rather than her resolve.

"Anyway, we're gonna grab some food," Jaune said, giving them a quick wave before walking away. Pyrrha also waved before following her partner, leaving behind a table stunned into silence.

It was only when Jaune and Pyrrha reached the line that Yang turned towards Ruby - her expression one of pure shock.

"While we're working our butts off, Pyrrha and Jaune will be relaxing?"

"So they've decided to be unproductive," Weiss replied, dismissing the notion that her team would ever do the same. "That's their prerogative."

"Yeah, but like -" Looking around the table, Yang let out a little huff of air. "I mean, _we_ could do that too."

"I thought you wanted to win," Blake asked. "We'll get to use the upperclassmen combat rooms, remember?"

From the expression on her face, Yang was struggling with what she wanted more - a week to do nothing but watch TV and flirt with Blake, or the rest of the year using the combat rooms reserved for the higher grades only. To Weiss, the decision was ridiculously easy. However, she realized that she would probably have to convince her teammates several times that the reward was worth it.

In a fight between sloth and greed, which won out in the end?

"Well, this just got easier," she pointed out.

With Pyrrha sitting out, one of their strongest competitors was on the sidelines. So maybe they _didn't_ have to give this their all, although that strategy didn't feel right to Weiss. If she was going to win something, she wanted it to be _clear_ that she was the best - not that she was the best just because others didn't show up.

"I guess…" Looking much less enthusiastic after learning that laziness was a possibility, Yang poked at her breakfast until Blake leaned over and nudged her shoulder.

"It's only one challenge per day. We'll have plenty of time outside of that to do whatever we want."

When Blake smiled - a small, encouraging smile - Yang lost her reticence about doing anything other than following Blake to the ends of Remnant.

"That sounds like a great week," she replied, her eyes never leaving Blake's while they did that weird silent communication thing they always did.

Satisfied that Yang would stop complaining now, Weiss left the lovebirds to their nest and focused on Ruby instead. As usual, Ruby was just happy to be eating breakfast. Happy to be eating, in general.

Weiss wished that everyone was as easygoing as Ruby. It didn't matter if they were scheduling extra practices, waking up early, trekking outside in a torrential downpour - as long as Ruby was adequately fed, she was content.

"Are you excited for the first challenge?" Weiss asked when Ruby was between bites and able to respond.

"You know it! I hope it's something really fun. Or really hard. Or both!"

The response cemented Ruby as the perfect partner for Weiss, because how many other students sought out challenges?

But challenges were how they got better...and wasn't that the point of school, to begin with?

"Hopefully, it will be both," she replied and smiled when Ruby gave a soft 'mhmm' before taking another bite to eat.

Weiss didn't know what it was, but she found it surprisingly relaxing to eat breakfast with her team. Even on the cusp of the unknown adventure just minutes away, she didn't feel jittery with nerves. She only felt...content. Secure. Confident. Like the four of them could accomplish anything.

That was the true power of having a team, and she looked forward to proving just how great of a team they were over the course of the week. At the very least, they were leaps and bounds better than the other two teams competing against them, both of whom strolled into the cafeteria with not much time to spare before the first challenge began.

"Morning nerds," Cardin grumbled while walking past, but the insult lacked much of the cruelty from when school started. And he steered clear of bumping into their chairs, something he _hadn't_ seen fit to do until Yang had a few choice words with him.

Maybe he was growing up. Or maybe he finally learned his place after being repeatedly put in it by bigger, stronger, faster, brighter huntsmen. Regardless, Team CRDL shuffled past in a lazy crawl, lacking much of the 'bad boy' vibe they tried to cultivate for themselves.

Team SSSN was right on their heels, and entered the cafeteria with a completely different energy than the sluggish team before them. For one thing, Sun was already talking a mile a minute and bouncing on his toes like he might levitate right off the ground. The rest of his team was more restrained...until they burst into laughter at something he said.

"Hello ladies," Neptune greeted them. When he set his hand on the back of Ruby's chair and flashed a flirtatious smile around the table, Weiss rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to smack his hand away.

"Good morning, Neptune," she replied while reaching over and pulling Ruby closer to her. While romance was probably the last thing on Ruby's mind, she wasn't going to risk someone like Neptune weaseling his way into Ruby's life with a smile and well-placed compliment. And she was positive Ruby would do the same for her in return - that's what partners were for.

"Ready to kick butt?" Sun asked, and tried to snatch a grape off of Yang's plate only for her to swat his hand away.

"Yours, most likely," Blake replied in her signature drawl, although there was a hint of a smile on her lips while Team SSSN laughed at the response.

"Someone's got claws," Sun joked while he and his teammates headed towards the line for food. "See you out there!"

After Team SSSN left the table behind, Weiss looked at her teammates and scoffed.

"They're going to stuff themselves and participate in the challenge right after?" she asked before shaking her head at the ill-advised 'strategy.' "What a horrible decision."

"They'll be that much easier to beat!" Ruby pointed out before giving her empty tray a push towards the center of the table. "Are you guys ready?"

Weiss nodded and pushed her own tray forward at the same time as Blake. Yang, meanwhile, popped her last grape into her mouth then flashed a thumbs up.

"Let's do this!"

And, with that verbal cue, the four of them stood and left the cafeteria behind. Their next destination took them into the snow-covered wonderland just outside.

The instant they stepped through the doorway, Weiss' cheeks and the tips of her nose grew cold, and her breaths became visible puffs of air. Fortunately, the grounds crew had already been out this morning, leaving clear pathways in their wake. The areas outside of the sidewalk, however, were covered with several inches of fresh snow.

"And The Winter Challenge begins…" Blake muttered while they headed towards The Great Lawn and their first challenge. From her tone and the frown on her lips, the weather dampened any enjoyment she might've found in spending the day with Yang.

The expression disappeared the instant Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's shoulders and tugged her close.

"Come here, you," Yang cooed while enveloping Blake in _so_ much warmth that her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.

It was actually a blush, but Weiss would let Blake _pretend_ it was from Yang's warmth. Which...technically it was. Except it was less 'cozy-red warm' and more 'the-girl-of-my-dreams-is-pressed-up-against-me warm.'

When a gust of wind whipped across the open space, Weiss shivered and pulled her jacket closer. If there was one drawback to combat skirts, it was that they offered little in the way of protection from the elements. Not that she needed much warmth in the midst of battle, but walking across school grounds was a separate thing entirely.

"Are you cold?"

Finding Ruby looking at her, Weiss shook her head and hugged her arms across her chest.

"Just a little, but I'll be fine once we start."

"Why don't you take my cloak?"

Before Weiss could protest, Ruby removed her cloak and wrapped it around Weiss's neck. She took a few extra seconds to resituate the material until it was just right, her warm silver eyes and tender hands reinforcing what a gentle, caring person she was.

"There you go," she said softly, pulling the cloak over Weiss' shoulders and running her hands up and down Weiss' arms to warm her up.

It worked. Ruby's hands lent temporary heat to her arms while the cloak added a layer of warmth above and beyond her prior outfit. Plus, she liked to think red went perfectly with her traditional color scheme...

"Thank you…" she said, and the two of them shared a smile before hurrying to catch up with their teammates.

"Kinda bummed we have this challenge thing," Yang said from up ahead, oblivious that Ruby and Weiss had temporarily stopped. "I wanted to build an adorable cat snowman!"

"Excuse me?"

Cringing at the look Blake gave her, Yang waved her hand as if erasing what she just said. "I mean, I wanted to build a ferocious, fire-breathing cat snowman!"

When Blake shook her head, Yang laughed and pulled her partner closer. For a second, it _almost_ looked like she was going to kiss Blake on the temple. And she _almost_ leaned in and did it, but then she glanced at Weiss and smiled.

"Like what you see?"

Rolling her eyes at the response, Weiss decided to toss a tease right back at Yang - see if she could handle playing on Weiss' level.

"You two are such great partners," she replied, drawing immediate and identical looks of surprise from the two girls. Blake hid the emotion almost immediately, of course. Yang, however, looked at a complete loss for how to respond. (Obviously, she wasn't ready for _that _when she lobbed a tease Weiss' way.)

"Uh…thanks?" she said, shooting several sideways glances at Blake to judge her response. When it became clear that Blake wouldn't say anything anytime soon, Yang nudged her shoulder and smiled. "I think we are too."

_That_ got a reaction, and it appeared in the form of a light blush on Blake's cheeks. Surely feeling the rising heat, she ducked her head and hurried towards the small group of people standing at one end of the Great Lawn with a barely audible, "I think so too."

Weiss grinned at the reaction, which was perfectly in line with what she'd learned to expect from Blake. At least, it was what she'd learned to expect from Blake when Yang was involved. If anyone else used that line, they would be met with one of those blank stares Blake had turned into an art form. With Yang, however, she was _shy_.

"Uh, Weiss?"

Feeling a soft tug on her sleeve, Weiss turned and found Ruby looking far more bashful than usual.

"Yes?"

"What about us?"

When Ruby gestured between them, Weiss smiled and gently looped her arm through Ruby's.

"We're the best partners, of course," she replied while leading Ruby towards the starting point of their first challenge.

Her response was true for more reasons than one. Out of all the partner pairs at Beacon, Weiss had yet to find one that had more built-in synergies than her and Ruby. Their differing skillsets meshed together in a way that gave an enormous boost to their fighting potential. And, maybe most importantly, they got along well...once Weiss learned that she didn't need to be the best at everything.

With their arms still linked, the two of them stopped beside Blake and Yang at the outer edge of the Great Lawn, which was aptly named due to its large size. On an ordinary day, the space was a field of green grass used by students for a variety of purposes, from picnic spots to impromptu games to aerial practices. With the recent onset of snow, however, the lawn was empty save for the small group of people who beat them here.

Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood to one side, each of the teachers giving them nods of acknowledgment when they arrived. Then there was Nora, who jogged in place and stretched like she was about to run a marathon. Ren stood by Nora's side, looking cold but unceasingly patient when it came to his partner.

"Hey guys!" Nora greeted them with a wave, her breaths coming out in quick billows of frosty air. "You ready?"

"You bet!"

As usual, Ruby caught Nora's energy like the flu and was bouncing up and down in no time. The resulting motion encouraged Weiss to release Ruby's arm, which she did with a sigh. Ruby's presence was an added warmth she would miss until they started moving around.

"We've been training all weekend!"

"How have you been training?" Blake asked, watching Nora with equal parts curiosity and entertainment.

"Obstacle courses, scavenger hunts, foot races…" Ren answered before shaking his head. "Anything she got her hands on."

"Is it just us two?" Nora asked. "That'll be fun, right Ren? You and me versus Team RWBY!"

"Do we need to go over the definition of 'fun' again?"

"'Fun' is you and me." Gently touching Ren's nose, Nora smiled. "And anything else the world throws at us!"

Smiling at the response, which was Nora's unique blend of sweet and crazy, Weiss noticed Professor Goodwitch glance at the time. It must be close to the start of the event, which meant they were now waiting for their final competitors to show up.

"They're almost here," Blake said, answering Weiss' silent annoyance and nodding behind them. Team CRDL and Team SSSN sidled across campus, not at all rushed even though they were on the verge of being late.

Weiss didn't understand how they dealt with such tardiness. Weren't they concerned about missing appointments or class? Regardless...eventually they joined the rest of the group and Professor Ozpin spoke.

"Welcome to the first day of winter break, and the first day of The Winter Challenge."

Nora clapped at the introduction, earning a variety of glances ranging from confused to amused. Professor Goodwitch, in particular, sent Nora several long looks while she continued warming up.

"As you know, life as a huntsman isn't for everyone," Professor Ozpin continued. "You'll face trials that much of Remnant can't even fathom. Certainty will never be guaranteed, and you'll always expect the unexpected."

When Professor Ozpin eyed each of them in turn, Weiss nodded at his cryptic words. She understood that life as a huntress wouldn't be easy, and that she wouldn't be able to plan everything the way she liked to, but that's why she had a team to lean on for support.

After a poignant silence passed, Professor Ozpin looked up at the sky, where small snowflakes still sprinkled towards the ground.

"Sometimes, it will be more than Grimm you'll fight against. The terrain, the elements, other huntsmen - you must be prepared to overcome any circumstances thrown your way." Clasping his hands behind his back and straightening his posture, he gave them a small smile that looked almost like a smirk.

"That being said, your first challenge is now upon you."

With that sentence, Professor Goodwitch waved her wand towards The Great Lawn. The snow at their feet flew upward in a flurry of icy cold air, making Weiss briefly shield her face while the snow whipped past before dropping her arms and watching the landscape alter in front of them.

Under Professor Goodwitch's direction, the snow drifted into tall dunes, sank into foxholes, formed into tall pillars and other obstacles. At the four sides of the lawn, a tall wall was built. Behind each wall, a flag appeared - one in each of their team's colors.

The Great Lawn had suddenly become a giant, snowy arena, and it was immediately apparent exactly what game they'd be playing.

"Oh _hell_ yeah," Weiss heard Yang whisper from beside her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Capture the flag," Professor Ozpin said while smiling at their enthusiastic reactions to the snowy playing field. "A testament to any team's ability to work together. Plus, if I remember correctly, rather enjoyable to play."

Excited murmurs went through the competitors present. Team CRDL already looked like they were scheming something. Team SSSN bounced with energy. Nora knocked her fists together. And Ruby...Ruby looked like she couldn't believe her luck.

"Weiss," she whispered, leaning into Weiss' side while staring at the transformed field in front of them. "You're right - this is the best idea ever."

Weiss _already knew_ it was a good idea - it was one of hers, after all - but she smirked and shifted her attention to Blake and Yang. From the expressions on their faces, convincing them to participate in The Winter Challenge would no longer be so difficult. It was still a competition, and Weiss still very much wanted to win, but it was presented as a game. Certain members of her team _loved_ playing (and winning) games…

"Points will be awarded by place," Professor Goodwitch explained. "If your flag is captured, you can still try to get other players out. If you're hit by a snowball on any part of your person, you're out. The winning team is the one with the most flags or the last person standing who still has their team flag." After pausing for a second to let the rules sank in, she smiled. "May the best team win."

Interpreting that as a cue to start, the other teams raced towards their flags. Weiss, meanwhile, looked at Professor Goodwitch one last time.

"Can we use semblances?" she asked but received nothing more than a level stare from both professors in return.

"The rules won't always be laid out for you, Miss Schnee," Professor Ozpin replied.

"I'll take that as a yes, then?"

Before he responded - although he was unlikely to answer anyway - Ruby grabbed Weiss by the arm and dragged her away.

"Come on, Weiss! We'll figure it out!"

This wasn't how Weiss expected the challenge to begin, but she quickly realigned her expectations and followed Ruby towards their team. Ducking behind a tall barrier placed in front of their flag, the four of them huddled together to strategize. They probably didn't have long before the other teams started moving around the playing arena, so they needed to come up with a plan fast.

"Ruby should get the flags," were the first words out of Weiss' mouth.

"Or Blake," Yang countered. "Blake's sneakier than Ruby."

"And Ruby's faster than Blake."

"But Blake can avoid detection."

"Ok," Blake cut in before an argument ensued. "Ruby and I can _both_ go on offense while you two guard our flag."

Yang and Weiss studied each other for an instant - each of them deciding whether or not the solution damaged their pride - before nodding in unison.

"Ok."

"That sounds good."

"Which team should we go after first?" Ruby asked while rubbing her hands together in anticipation

"Nora, since it's just her?" As soon as Yang made the suggestion, Blake gave her a look and she shook her head. "Right. Dumb idea. SSSN then? They're probably not taking this seriously."

"Good idea," Blake agreed before motioning for Ruby to follow her. With her ears swiveling in every which direction searching for noises, she crept around the corner with Ruby right on her heels. While the two of them set off on offense, Weiss surveyed their base to see what changes could be made.

"Weiss," Yang whispered to her before nodding towards the ground. "We need to make some ammo."

After scooping up two fistfuls of loose snow, Yang clasped her hands together to form a snowball. Smiling at the result, she tossed it to Weiss before making a second one. Setting the snowball off to the side, Weiss followed Yang's lead in making as many snowballs as possible. At the same time, she kept her senses on high alert, hoping she heard or caught a glimpse of a potential attacker before they saw her.

"Hey Weiss - you ever eat yellow snow?" Tossing a snowball up in the air, Yang shot Weiss a grin while she rolled her eyes.

"You're so immature sometimes..." she grumbled under her breath before finishing up another snowball. Once they had a couple dozen ready, she surveyed their base - the single wall behind them and the flag planted out in the open. It wasn't exactly the most secure of locations...but she could probably fix that.

Testing her theory, she formed a small glyph on the ground near her foot and pushed forward. When the snow obediently moved where she wanted it, she smiled and motioned for Yang to watch while she altered their base.

First, she built several mounds of snow, scraping the ground until patches of green showed through. Then, using a series of glyphs on either side, she pressed the snow into a firm, igloo-like structure encasing the flag. Once the flag was hidden from view, she collected more snow and attached two small walls to their original barrier, creating a small bunker for her and Yang to hole up in.

Now they weren't in plain sight, and they would see anyone running into their base before being spotted themselves.

"Genius," Yang said while raising one fist for Weiss to knock with her own.

Since there were no rules, there shouldn't be anything wrong with sheltering their flag from view or hiding themselves.

"Oh!" Sitting forward, Yang grabbed snowballs and arranged seven in a neat line in front of Weiss. "You got it," she added and provided no more explanation than a simple arm motion at the snowballs then at the flag.

Surprisingly, Weiss _did_ understand what Yang meant. She had no idea when she learned how to read Yang's peculiar version of half-finished sentences and vague gestures, but apparently she'd picked up the ability at some point.

When someone shouted nearby, she tensed and expected an imminent attack. She felt Yang's muscles coil in anticipation beside her, both of them prepared for an assault on their base. But after several minutes passed and nothing happened, she let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Yang also relaxed and settled back in to -

The wall beside them suddenly burst apart, showering snow in every direction as Dove crashed through and rushed towards the flag. When he made it to the igloo, however, he paused - confused about what he was supposed to do next.

In that instant of indecision, Weiss summoned seven glyphs and fired the seven snowballs in front of her at once. It might've been overkill, but...it was only snow…

Due to her excellent aim, all seven nailed Dove in the back and exploded into puffs of white while he ducked and raised his hands to shield his head.

"Aw man…" he whined after the assault ended, shaking his head and traipsing away while Weiss and Yang exchanged high fives.

"That'll teach 'em," Yang added with a giggle. Settling back into their hiding place at the base of the wall, she lined up more snowballs for Weiss - ten this time, because apparently seven hadn't been quite enough.

Someone else shouted in the distance, but no exploding wall followed the sound this time. Instead, Weiss calmly patched the hole in their wall as best she could while Yang tossed a snowball up and down in one hand.

When Yang suddenly froze - the motion of the snowball abruptly ceasing - Weiss expected another attack at any second. There was no attack, however. Instead, Blake crept around the corner - peeking around the wall first to make sure the coast was clear - before sticking Team SSSN's flag in the ground in front of them.

At that moment, Weiss didn't know what to be happier about - the fact that Blake successfully stole a flag or the fact that Yang somehow sensed her partner's return before any human being should have.

"You were right," Blake told Yang, who looked like she was impressed enough to kiss Blake right then and there. "They weren't even guarding it."

Expecting Ruby to appear at any moment, Weiss glanced over Blake's shoulder and grew increasingly concerned when several seconds passed with no bundle of energy bouncing into their base.

"Where's Ruby?" she finally asked, looking to Blake for an answer. Blake's ears immediately drooped, and she shook her head before meeting Weiss' eyes.

"She...she didn't make it."

"What do you mean she didn't make it? She's faster than all of us!"

"Yes, but...she took a snowball for me."

While the words sunk in, Yang rocked back on her heels and sadly shook her head.

"Of course she did…" And, after a few seconds of mournful silence, she clenched her jaw and reached out to touch Blake's hand (another gratuitous display of affection, but Weiss wasn't in the mood for it at the moment).

"We have to win this now," she said, grasping Blake's hand and looking deep into her eyes. "For Ruby."

"For Ruby," Blake whispered, clutching Yang's hand while the two of them shared a moment commiserating _Weiss' partner_. Oblivious to Weiss' feelings or existence (helloooo - Ruby was _kind of_ important to her too), Blake smiled at Yang before slinking around the wall and disappearing just as silently as she'd appeared.

After watching her partner leave, Yang turned around and sighed, but Weiss couldn't tell if the sigh was the continuation of her act or her longing for Blake slipping through. Probably the second because...well, it was Yang.

"Guess it's just you and me now," she said before leaning against the pile of snow shielding them from view. After Weiss followed Yang's lead, the two of them listened to the sounds of the battle waging around them while waiting for the inevitable assault on their stronghold. Out there, somewhere, Blake tried to secure another flag for their team. Team CRDL was probably next on her list - all of them knew Nora was best left for last.

Sensing a pause in the action, Weiss decided to use their brief moment of solitude to push forward her _other _objective.

"Blake looks nice today, doesn't she?"

"Uh, yeah?" Yang gave Weiss a confused glance before shrugging. "I mean...she looks nice every day, so that's not unusual."

"Right. Of course." Brushing snow off the shoulder of her jacket, Weiss tried not to feel _too_ smug about that answer.

For a few seconds, Yang looked like she didn't know what else to say, then she gave Weiss that trademark grin that meant a joke was incoming.

"Why do you ask? Jealous I got the hottest partner at Beacon?"

Even though it was downright adorable that Yang found Blake so attractive, Weiss scoffed at the response (partly because she was obligated to, partly because she disagreed with Yang's assessment).

"Ruby's no slouch, you know," she pointed out, and Yang scrunched up her nose but didn't argue. Because how could she argue without insinuating that her sister was unattractive - something she would never do? Plus, she had to know that Weiss was right. With Ruby's recent growth spurt came all the trappings of beauty - long, slender arms and legs, slight curves, and fuller...well, she was becoming a young woman.

"She's very pretty," Weiss concluded while leaning against the snow and smiling when she thought about seeing Ruby when this game was over. She should've suggested that they go on offense together, but...that didn't make sense if they wanted to win.

Yang opened her mouth to respond but abruptly froze - at the same moment Weiss thought she heard a soft _crunch_ of snow underneath someone's foot.

"Did you hear that?" Yang whispered, motioning in a direction before pressing a finger to her lips. Focusing her ears, Weiss strained to find the sound again.

There was a noise - a slight shuffling in the snow - coming from the left of their base. It sounded like someone sneaking around on their hands and knees, probably trying to keep a low profile and present a smaller target.

'You?' Yang mouthed to Weiss, who was closest to the sound. Nodding, Weiss grabbed two snowballs and crept towards their intruder.

Even though it was 'only' a snowball fight, her heart beat faster as she grew closer to the noise. Whoever it was, they were on just the other side of the wall of snow, moving to the right while she circled around behind them. If she was quiet enough, and fast enough, she could jump behind them for an easy knockout before they noticed her.

When she reached the edge of the wall, she took a deep breath before springing into motion. Standing up and summoning a glyph to launch the snowball, she spun around the corner - and immediately felt something hit her side.

Looking down in surprise, she found traces of snow on her jacket. And it took longer than it should have for her to realize that she was just hit by a snowball. Which meant she was out of the game.

Hearing snickers from behind a nearby snowbank, she stomped around it to identify her attacker and found Neptune and Sun giggling like school girls while crouched near the ground.

"Seriously?" she said, disappointed in herself that these boys were the end of her participation in this challenge. But she understood what happened now. Neptune lured her away by making noise, then Sun pulled some crazy acrobatics to leap in such a way that he could hit her with a well-placed throw.

It was clever, but that didn't mean she appreciated it.

"We kinda thought it'd go right through you," Sun said, which only made Neptune laugh harder.

"Y-yeah! Like, snow can't hit snow, can it?"

The response made no sense, but they laughed anyway. Because _of course_ they found it funny.

Their laughter cut off when a snowball appeared out of nowhere and nailed Neptune in the chest.

"Sun..." he gasped, clutching Sun's shoulder while collapsing to his side in the snow. "Dude...I think...I just got hit..."

"No, no, no." After quickly wiping the snow off of Neptune's jacket, Sun pointed towards it. "You're fine - see? You're gonna make it! You've gotta make it for me!"

As touching as the scene was, Weiss smirked when another snowball pegged Sun in the shoulder. Grabbing his arm, he fell sideways into the snowbank and prepared to meet his inevitable demise - but not without first grinning at Weiss.

"Now that - was cold..." he joked before pretending to die along with his partner.

Shaking her head at the display, she used a glyph to shove the snowbank on top of the fools. They yelped while being partially buried in snow, and she slapped hands with Blake before heading out of the arena.

"Thanks, Blake," she said while walking away, knowing Blake had probably already disappeared.

At least her 'death' was quickly avenged - that made her feel moderately better about her exit from the game. Not that she was ever happy to lose at anything, but _technically_ she hadn't lost. Just because she was out didn't mean her team was out - Blake and Yang were plenty capable of winning this on their own.

Plus, now Weiss could watch the rest of the game with Ruby, who stood at the edge of the Great Lawn with the professors and the other competitors who were already out.

"You're out too?" Ruby asked, hurrying over to Weiss' side and wrapping an arm around her as if she might be injured. "Who got you?"

"Sun and Neptune."

Weiss left out the part where they tricked her, but Ruby nodded as if she already knew.

"At least we got their flag!" Turning back to the field, Ruby stood on her tiptoes like that might help her see further into the arena. "I think Ren got CRDL's though…"

Hearing a smattering of laughter, Weiss watched Sun and Neptune walk out of the arena, dusting snow out of their hair while rejoining the rest of their team. As suspected, Team SSSN was in this for fun. Which made them an easy target, in her mind.

"I wish - I could - see!" Ruby said, jumping up and down with every word. She was right though - the walls of snow in front of them made it impossible to see what was happening within the playing field. The most they could see was snow, snow, and more snow.

"Hold on." Professor Goodwitch gave no further warning before snow pushed underneath their feet, quickly growing in volume as they rose into the air. Seconds later, they stood on a platform of snow some fifteen feet above the Great Lawn. From this height, they could easily see the rest of the competitors moving amongst the walls of snow. And Professor Goodwitch was even nice enough to stamp out a set of stairs for whoever joined them next, which, from the looks of it, would be Cardin and Sky.

"Awesome!" Ruby said, celebrating her new vantage point while the two boys trudged up to them.

"She has to be cheating," Cardin grumbled while joining his team. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glowered towards the playing field.

"Did you go after Nora?" Sun asked and, when Cardin said nothing, laughed. "Dude, you've got a death wish."

After shaking her head at the foolhardy decision, Weiss smiled at Ruby. Ruby was, of course, enraptured by the end of the game. Given her love of all things strategy related, that wasn't surprising at all.

"Look!" she suddenly said, pointing towards the corner of the lawn and jarring Weiss out of her thoughts. Looking in that direction, she found Yang and Ren sneaking towards each other - on a collision course they seemed to know nothing about.

Weiss sighed upon seeing Yang outside of their base. _Of course_ she couldn't just sit and wait for Blake to win them the game. _Of course_ she stayed on defense only as long as there was action happening. Once the action stopped, she decided to sneak around on her own, apparently.

Maybe she was searching for Blake. That made sense. After spending all of three minutes apart, she must be pining for Blake's presence by now. Screw the game, the competition, or winning - she needed to see Blake!

Why did love make people act like idiots?

"Don't worry - she's got this." Contrary to that endorsement, Ruby clutched Weiss' arm while they watched the collision from their perch.

Yang snuck around the corner at the same time Ren did, and they actually bumped into each other before springing apart as if they just stepped in lava. Ren recovered first and threw a snowball towards Yang. And Yang, even though she reacted a bit slower, managed to chuck a snowball at Ren. Because Yang's throw had more heat on it though, they ended up hitting each other in the torsos at nearly the same time - a simultaneous out.

For a second, they just stared at each other. Then they shrugged and walked out of the arena together.

"Great," Weiss muttered before shaking her head and searching for Blake.

Surprisingly, Blake was easy to find seeing as how her black color-scheme stood out against the pure-white backdrop. She was creeping towards Team JNPR's base while Nora was...Nora was nowhere to be found at the moment, but she was probably somewhere near the massive molehills that had appeared near JNPR's flag.

"Good job, Yang!" Ruby said when her sister joined them on their viewing platform.

"Yes, good job," Weiss added dryly.

"Thanks, Weiss!" Ignoring Weiss' sarcasm, Yang patted her shoulder before turning around to watch the end of the challenge play out.

From Blake's slow, tentative pace, she didn't know where Nora was. None of them knew where Nora was - except maybe Ren. She had to be hiding in the base, right?

"What's she gonna do…" Yang muttered, her gaze locked on Blake while she crept around yet another wall.

"It's Blake," Ruby answered, the slight bounce in her feet giving away her excitement. "She'll think of something."

Yang looked a little unsure while watching the standoff take place below them - then she started whispering under her breath, low enough that no one else could hear.

At least, Weiss couldn't hear, but Blake suddenly stopped, stood a little straighter, then abruptly altered course and set off in the other direction - approaching Nora's base from the side with fewer obstacles in the way. Before entering the land of molehills, however, she flashed a clone in front of her.

That's when they saw a snowball shoot out of nowhere.

Weiss still couldn't see Nora, but she had to be close. When Blake sent another clone in front of her, another snowball shot through the air. Meanwhile, Yang just kept whispering, feeding information to her partner from afar.

Undisturbed by her lack of vision, Blake used more clones - always one at a time and at different locations. It was only after the first few that Weiss figured out what Blake was doing.

Even though Blake hid safely behind the wall to JNPR's base, she was using Yang's help to create the impression that she was successfully dodging Nora's attacks and making it closer to the flag. Just a few more sprints and the clone version of Blake would reach it…

As soon as that happened, a mountain of snow exploded outward, and they finally knew where Nora was hiding - _inside_ one of the piles of snow.

When Nora rushed to save her flag, Blake leapt into motion - scaling the wall in one jump before flinging a snowball towards Nora's back.

It connected. And, for a few seconds, everyone held their breath and waited for Nora's response.

At first, she froze. Then she slowly turned around to see who was behind her. When she saw Blake, however, she broke into a smile and ran over to give her a hug.

"Congratulations, Team RWBY," Professor Ozpin said with a smile. "You've won the first challenge. Team JNPR takes second place, followed by Team CRDL, and Team SSSN."

When Sun slapped hands with his team - somehow excited about coming in last - Professor Goodwitch lowered their viewing platform to the ground so they could disburse for the day.

"The Winter Challenge will resume tomorrow," she said before leveling them with a stern gaze - the only look she seemed capable of giving. "You'll receive another notice when it's time."

Talking amongst themselves, most of the huntsmen started walking back to school, leaving just Ren, Weiss, Yang and Ruby waiting for their teammates to return.

"I'm gonna congratulate her!" Ruby said and, before anyone could respond, flew into the arena to find Blake.

"Blake's hearing is really good," Weiss commented while waiting with Yang.

"Her hearing is amazing."

Turning to the side, Weiss found what she could only describe as a look of longing and admiration in Yang's eyes.

"I'm glad you two have become so close," she said, drawing a curious expression from Yang.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I wasn't sure how well you'd get along since Blake is so reserved and you're so…" Not sure how to phrase it without coming across as insulting, she motioned with her hands to symbolize what she was trying to say.

"Charming? Adventurous? Incredible?" Yang offered with a grin.

"Unreserved…" Weiss settled upon with a shake of her head.

"I guess I see what you mean...but what about you and Ruby?"

Weiss scoffed at the question.

"What about me and Ruby?"

"Come on, Weiss," Yang replied with a friendly laugh. "You weren't exactly nice to her for the first few weeks of school. I thought I was gonna have to beat some sense into you."

Weiss pursed her lips but opted to watch Ruby, Blake, and Nora walk out of the arena rather than respond. Maybe she wasn't initially thrilled with her partner assignment, team assignment, or leader assignment, but her outlook had changed. Ruby had matured, and the two of them became friends - best friends, even.

"At least it worked out," she concluded before their partners rejoined them. All Blake had to do was _look_ at Yang, and Yang sprang forward to resume her role as personal heater. Ruby, meanwhile, stuck to Weiss' side while Nora charged into Ren for a hug.

"That was so much fun!" she said before grabbing Ren's hand. "And you did _super_ great!"

After sharing a smile, Nora looked towards Team RWBY and waved. "See you tomorrow!" was all she had to say before bounding through the snow with Ren in tow - the boy willing to follow his partner anywhere.

Yang, however, looked at Blake like she wanted the two of them to meld into one right then and there.

"You did fantastic," she said, her eyes never leaving Blake's while they stood pressed together ('for warmth').

"Couldn't have done it without you."

When Yang laughed at the response, Blake's ears twitched in a way Weiss assumed meant happiness.

"Pretty sure you could have," was Yang's reply while she lightly grasped Blake's sides. "But what do you think? Time to go home?"

When Yang motioned towards the dorms, Weiss noticed something she hadn't realized until just now. While the snow brushed off the rest of them, it melted near Yang's presence. Meaning...somehow her clothing was wet, especially the bottoms of her pants and her ribs where Ren hit her with the snowball.

Fortunately, Weiss wasn't the only one who noticed Yang's less-than-ideal relationship with snow.

"We need to get you out of those clothes," Blake said, unwittingly speaking her subconscious before shaking her head. "I heard it - don't say anything," she added before Yang laughed. "I don't want you to get sick."

"But then you could nurse me back to health!" With a smile, Yang reached up and gently brushed a few snowflakes from the tips of Blake's ears. The gesture looked surprisingly intimate, which was probably why Blake blushed while considering Yang's words.

Weiss already knew that Blake would nurse Yang back to health if needed. And _Blake_ already knew that she would nurse Yang back to health whenever and wherever. But at this moment, she shook her head and fought off her rosy cheeks.

"We need you for the team fighting challenge."

The response made Yang chuckle again, and Weiss smiled as she joined Ruby for their walk back to the room. It didn't escape her notice that Yang just touched Blake's ears without a second thought, and without express permission. Seeing as how she was still breathing, she must have already been granted blanket permission to do so - which was interesting, wasn't it? _No one_ was allowed to touch Blake's ears, but that rule didn't extend to Yang.

A lot of Blake's 'rules' didn't apply to Yang...

"You did great, Weiss!" Ruby leaned into Weiss' shoulder and smiled. "I saw how you changed the base - that was really smart. You chose the perfect angles too - no one could see you guys until it was too late."

Turning her eyes forward, Weiss felt a satisfied smirk appear on her lips. Somehow, Ruby made her feel triumphant even when she hadn't personally won. With that single compliment, the sting of being eliminated by Sun and Neptune disappeared. Instead, she focused on what Ruby wanted her to focus on - that she _had_ done some good things and made contributions to her team's win today.

"Thank you, Ruby," she replied and leaned into Ruby's side while they entered the dorm room building. As they left the snowy outdoors behind, she heard a sigh from behind her that could only be from one person.

Of course, when she glanced over her shoulder, Yang was still wrapping an arm around Blake to keep her warm. It seemed a little unnecessary now that they were inside the heated building, but Blake wasn't complaining - nor did Weiss expect to hear Blake complain anytime soon.

By the time they made it back to their room, Weiss was starting to feel the events of the day wearing on her. When Blake walked into the room and laid down on her bed, Weiss knew she wasn't the only one feeling abnormally exhausted from their exciting morning.

"Ugh...so tired…" Blake mumbled into her pillow.

"Maybe we can nap," Yang suggested, sitting down beside Blake and failing to notice the pink on Blake's cheeks.

"Maybe…" was her murmured response, although Weiss already knew the answer was a solid 'yes.'

The most recent development in Blake and Yang's 'friendship' (a development that hadn't gone unnoticed) was that they now napped together. Sure, friends could nap and cuddle and do all sorts of cute things, but Weiss knew what was _really _going on. It was blatantly obvious by how hesitant and shy the two of them were about these 'friendly' things.

Still, Yang suggested it because she _wanted_ to be closer to Blake. And Blake accepted because she _wanted_ to be closer to Yang. Now if only they could admit they wanted to be _more than_ napping partners with each other...that would help move things along.

"Let's do that," Ruby piped in, bringing Weiss out of her thoughts and back to the conversation. "Team RWBY naptime!"

When Blake and Yang chuckled at the idea, Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Are we in grade school?"

"No…" Ruby replied, furrowing her brow and looking a little too adorable to be leading a team of huntresses.

"But if we have time," Yang quickly tagged on. "And if we have nothing else to do, we might as well nap - right, Ruby?"

As usual, Yang knew how to get Ruby's approval - which she gave with a nod. And, as team leader, Ruby's approval held more weight than any of theirs combined. So, with a sigh, Weiss let the subject drop. Let Blake and Yang nap together if they wanted to. Maybe one of these days they'd canoodle into one, then they could just read each other's minds instead of going through the _ungodly difficult_ task of admitting their feelings out loud.

Unlikely, but a matchmaker could dream.

Since the challenge was over for the day, however, Weiss didn't see an issue with them doing whatever they wanted - within reason, of course. So while Blake and Yang snuggled closer to look at something on Yang's scroll and Ruby laid on Weiss' bed to play a game, Weiss sat at the desk and got to work.

If they had some free time, she wanted to go through notes from Professor Port's class. Regular review was the easiest way to absorb a great deal of material, after all. While the rest of her team preferred to 'cram' the night before a test, she reserved the right to study in her own (better, more effective) way.

She didn't mind studying alone, and she didn't mind studying with her teammates in the room. When she got to Beacon, she had found them incredibly distracting. Over time, that feeling went away, replaced by the subtle sense of comfort their companionship offered.

After making it through a good portion of her notes, however, she realized that the room had been a little too quiet for too long. Turning around in her chair, she froze when she figured out why.

Blake and Yang were sleeping, but Blake had fallen asleep with her head on Yang's shoulder while they leaned against the pillows placed on the wall. It was midway between a nap and cuddle, and it was adorable.

Glancing across the room, Weiss caught Ruby's gaze and they shared a smile. She then grabbed her scroll and sent Ruby a quick message that said 'food?' The message buzzed softly on the scroll in Ruby's hands and, after reading it, Ruby nodded and stood up. Together, the two of them crept out of the room and headed towards the cafeteria.

"I had a lot of fun today," Ruby said while they left their sleeping teammates behind. "And uh, I'm really happy we get to spend break together."

When Ruby added a sincere smile after the comment, Weiss felt her heart melt. She wasn't accustomed to such open, honest expressions, but she could get used to it. At this point, however, they still made her feel embarrassed. She'd yet to discover why that was, but she knew it was true when she glanced away and collected her thoughts before responding.

"Me too, Ruby..." Ruby's elated smile made the honesty immediately pay dividends, but she felt a small amount of relief when Ruby turned away. The way Ruby looked at her was incredibly disarming sometimes...

"So, I was thinking we can exchange presents on Sunday?" Ruby added as they walked into the cafeteria, which was almost as empty as when they had breakfast that morning. "I thought it'd be nice to end break on a high note!"

"Presents?" Weiss asked, picking up two trays and handing one to Ruby.

"Yeah! You know, for Christmas?"

"Oh. Right."

Admittedly, she hadn't spent much thought on the upcoming holiday. She was normally the one who received gifts, not the other way around. But...that was probably because she'd never had people she wanted to give gifts to. Her father - no. Whitley - another firm no. And Winter made it clear that she didn't expect any, nor would she accept any.

In addition to winning The Winter Challenge and getting Yang and Blake together, she needed to come up with great presents for her teammates. If anything, they would serve as 'thank you's for being so welcoming.

"That sounds like a good idea," she finally replied, watching Ruby bob her head and smile.

"Cool! Blake and Yang are already on board."

Without much effort, Weiss picked up on the underlying excitement vibrating through Ruby's veins. She was excited about giving gifts, which was both sweet and completely like her. Her generosity had no bounds - whether it was giving her time helping others or willingly parting with possessions she'd saved up to buy. If her family had any significant wealth, they probably wouldn't hold onto it for long if she held the pursestrings.

With such a benevolent partner, Weiss felt an even stronger desire to give Ruby something spectacular - because she deserved it.

"What are some of the best gifts you've ever received?" Weiss asked as they left the line and walked over to their usual table. For a moment, Ruby furrowed her brow in thought, then her eyes widened and sparkled in happiness.

"One year, Yang gave me a book about Nevermores."

"And?" she pried, feeling that there must be more to the response. "Was it just a book on Nevermores?"

"'Just' a book? Weiss, it had everything you could ever hope to know about them! I read it so many times…"

The answer wasn't at all what Weiss expected. It seemed so...simple. A book? A book on Grimm, no less. That had the feel of a textbook rather than a present, but Ruby would probably disagree with that. Simple but impactful, maybe? Clearly, fond memories were attached to reading that book - maybe because it was from her sister?

"The next year, she got me a book on Beowolves," Ruby added, sounding just as excited. "And then Death Stalkers!"

"Basically...she gifted you a library on Grimm," Weiss concluded and smiled when Ruby giggled.

"Basically!" After pausing for a few seconds to take a bite to eat, Ruby swallowed and leaned into Weiss' side. "What about you, Weiss? Do you have any favorite gifts?"

The question made Weiss pause for several long moments while trying to think of a gift she'd particularly enjoyed.

"One year, my parents got me a unicorn."

As expected, Ruby's eyes widened in surprise.

"A _unicorn?_"

"Yes, although it wasn't real. It was just a white horse made to look like a unicorn, but...it was still fun."

That Christmas was so long ago that she hardly remembered, but it somehow cemented in her memory as the one holiday she'd actually enjoyed.

"Don't think we're gonna be able to get you a unicorn…"

"I wouldn't expect anything like that from you," Weiss quickly added. "Besides, our room is small enough as it is. Where would I keep a unicorn?"

When Ruby giggled, Weiss felt a similar energy bubble up in her chest - a light, joyful laughter just hoping to get out.

"Something else though!" Ruby added, leaning further into Weiss' shoulder while continuing her meal. "Probably not as awesome, but hopefully you still like it."

Weiss smiled but didn't say the words she felt inside - that it didn't matter what her teammates gave her for Christmas. Their friendship was a gift that all the money in Remnant couldn't buy - and she would know, seeing as how she grew up alone even though she could have 'anything' she wanted.

Hopefully, her teammates understood how much they meant to her. One day, she would tell them, but until then...they had a challenge to win.


	4. Chapter 4

When Weiss woke up the next morning, she expected the day to follow their typical routine - she would open her eyes, roll out of bed, and wake Ruby before getting ready for the day. What she _didn't _expect was to open her eyes and discover something exceedingly cute. Something that hadn't crossed her mind when she went to sleep the night before because _of course_ it would never happen, yet...it happened.

Yang was sleeping in Blake's bed.

This was a _first_. Sure, they napped together, but sleeping in the same bed together?

Apparently, they were so exhausted last night that the two of them fell asleep together and were now cuddling in their sleep - Yang with her arms wrapped around Blake, and Blake looking snug and happy while enveloped in what must be heavenly warmth.

Exhausted or 'exhausted' was the question though. How much was coincidence and how much was their hidden desires showing through? One of them _must have_ fallen asleep first, and the other _must have_ noticed - did nothing about it. Well, nothing except let it happen.

Stifling the urge to 'aww…' at the adorable sight, Weiss instead slipped out of bed as quietly as possible, grabbed her clothes, and hurried into the bathroom to change. It would be too much if she took a picture, right? But for posterity...and to tease Yang…

No, she'd leave them alone - this time. Blake would already be embarrassed enough when she woke up and discovered she was a little spoon (not that Weiss ever thought otherwise, but Blake had her 'fiercely independent' reputation to uphold).

Yang must have fallen asleep first. Then Blake, realizing she 'couldn't' move, decided that she might as well go to sleep too. Yang's arms _were_ as strong as vices sometimes, although normally only when she had reason to hold someone in place and was, well, _conscious_.

Maybe Weiss should feel sympathy for Blake's plight. The poor girl only wanted to sleep, not be wrapped in strong, warm arms for the entire night. Why would she ever want to feel Yang pressed against her? Why would she care about the light breaths brushing across her cheek? Why would it matter that, in such a simple gesture, Yang displayed how much she cared? It wasn't as if Blake _wanted_ all of that. But while she had it, she might as well enjoy it, right?

Typical of Blake 'Don't-Touch-Me-Unless-You're-Yang' Belladonna.

Smiling to herself and shaking her head, Weiss gathered her pajamas and left the bathroom behind. Blake and Yang were awake now - and standing conspicuously far away from each other. Blake was by her dresser, staring at her selection of outfits as if she might actually choose something different today. Yang was by the desk, 'reading' Weiss' homework while actually sneaking glances at Blake out of the corner of her eye. And Ruby…

Weiss forgot to wake Ruby up, so she was still sleeping.

"Want to go next?" Yang offered Blake, gesturing towards the bathroom door and smiling.

"You can go," Blake answered.

The interaction sounded normal, but they refused to look at each other while blushing like fools. Apparently, they were a _little _embarrassed about just sleeping together. (Not in _that_ way. They were still light years away from that sort of progress.)

Their sudden modesty mattered little to Weiss at the moment, however, because the unexpected events of the morning had thrown their routine too far off base for her liking.

Hurrying over to Ruby's bed, she reached up and tapped Ruby's shoulder like she usually did. Today, however, she waited for Ruby to roll over and open her eyes, which she lazily did while wrapping herself even more securely in a cocoon of blankets. But then her eyes fluttered open, revealing pools of silver that sparkled in the early morning sunshine.

Because Weiss normally walked away as soon as she tapped Ruby's shoulder, she missed this moment. When Ruby rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and smiled, she couldn't figure out why - it was strangely cute and uplifting.

"Good morning," she whispered, and her heart did a little skip when Ruby's eyes locked onto hers.

"Morning, Weiss..." Pushing the covers off of her, Ruby swung her legs out of bed and hopped to the floor. Then they returned to their normal routine, as Ruby stretched her arms high above her head and Weiss averted her gaze.

"Sorry, Yang beat you to the bathroom," she said once Ruby's stretch ended.

"How'd she do that?"

The answer to that question was...involved. And, since Blake sat on the edge of her bed with a book in her hands, it wasn't something Weiss could get into at the moment. Instead, she smiled at Ruby and said, "She got up really fast today."

Fortunately, Ruby was one of the most easy-going people Weiss had ever met. So, with a shrug, she sat on Weiss' bed and smiled at Blake.

"Good morning, Blake!"

"Good morning, Ruby," Blake replied, setting her book aside and smiling.

"How'd you sleep?"

Rapid emotions flitted through Blake's eyes, most of them too fast for Weiss to read. Eventually, Blake settled upon nonchalance - because nonchalance was appropriate in _any_ situation (at least, according to Blake…).

"I slept just fine. How about you?"

"I slept great! Had a dream I was a squid."

Weiss laughed at the unexpected answer, which drew delighted silver eyes her way.

"A squid?" she repeated.

"Yeah! Definitely a squid, because I had an argument with an octopus about it."

This time, Blake joined Weiss in laughing at Ruby's most recent dream.

"That sounds like quite a dream," Blake added, although her eyes moved away from Ruby the instant Yang returned to the room.

"You wanna go next?" Ruby offered.

"You can go."

When Ruby wasted no time flying into the bathroom, Blake wasted no time turning back to Yang, and Weiss wasted no time rolling her eyes at the expected answer. If it were possible, Blake would shrink Yang into a pocket-sized version and take her everywhere. Wanting someone's company at all hours of the day seemed like the opposite of 'fiercely independent,' but what did Weiss know...

"You wanna get a practice in?" Yang asked, gesturing towards the door and sending Blake a smile.

"Sure. Let me get ready first."

"But I was kinda hoping you'd fight in your pajamas," Yang teased while Blake stood up and rolled her eyes.

"Is that you asking for an advantage?"

"It's me asking to see you in pajamas more."

The subtly-suggestive response made Weiss look at her scroll and try her best not to smile while Yang sputtered her way out of that one.

"I-I mean - your pajamas just look really great on you, so - I didn't want you to take them off, unless you want to. You can totally take them off if you want to."

With both of them now blushing like mad, Weiss decided to step in and save Yang from further embarrassment.

"Just remember to keep your scrolls on," she reminded them while waving hers in the air. "When we get the notice for the next challenge, we need to be ready quickly."

"Isn't today the race?" Yang latched onto the change of subject like a hopelessly-in-love girl who just accidentally told her crush to take their pants off. "Why do we all need to be there if Ruby's the only one competing?"

"It would be nice for all of us to support her, don't you think?" As soon as Weiss asked the question, she knew Yang would agree. Even if Yang _wanted_ to be lazy, she was Ruby's number one supporter, and she wouldn't miss an opportunity to cheer Ruby on. (Weiss liked to believe that she was Ruby's number one supporter too, but that was an argument for another day.)

"You're right," Yang agreed. "It's a team thing, so we'll be there! Right, Blake?"

Blake nodded (of course) then raised her hand to cover a yawn. Her ears flattened in the midst of the action before standing back up and flicking twice - all while Yang openly stared.

"What?" Blake asked, noticing the look Yang was giving her.

"Did you know you have the cutest yawn in the world?"

Blushing at the compliment, Blake ducked her head and mumbled a "thank you" before hurrying into the bathroom.

"What're we gonna do, Weiss?" Sitting on the edge of Weiss' bed, Ruby looked as happy and eager as a puppy waiting for its morning walk. When Weiss looked at the calendar she created for the week, she knew Ruby wouldn't like the answer.

"We should start that paper for Professor Oobleck's class -"

"Aww man…" Ruby immediately fell backwards on Weiss' bed to emphasize her disappointment.

"Come on, it won't be so bad." Walking over, Weiss grabbed Ruby's arms and pulled her up. "I'll help you think of a subject."

"You'll _only_ help me pick out a subject?"

"Ruby, we've been over this - I can't do your homework for you, nor do I want to."

"I know, but why are we doing separate papers anyway? We're a team! Shouldn't we have team papers? Or at least, partner papers?"

Huffing at the term, Weiss found Ruby's notebook and pressed it into her hands.

"Bring that up with Professor Oobleck."

"Oh! That's a great idea!"

Seeing Ruby's grin, Weiss immediately narrowed her eyes.

"_What's_ a great idea?"

"I'll ask him!"

"What? Ruby -" Since there was no use arguing with air, Weiss sighed and sat down to start her work.

With how fast Ruby and Professor Oobleck talked, she should be back in a few minutes…but they were supposed to stick together for the entire break. What if the next challenge started while she was away? Someone else would have to fill in for the footrace, which seemed ridiculous when they had the fastest person at Beacon on their team.

"Uh oh…" Yang said while walking to the door with Blake. "Looks like someone lost their partner. What if we get the next invite _right now?_"

Yang looked at the floor as if an envelope might slip under the door the moment she said the word. When nothing happened, she sighed and shook her head.

"That would've been cool," she muttered while opening the door. "Oh well. See you later!"

"We won't be gone long," Blake added before allowing Yang to lead her out the door by her hand. Because holding hands was _totally_ a partner thing…

Although...Weiss and Ruby held hands sometimes, but that was different. Weiss did that to make sure Ruby didn't run off in the wrong direction, which she'd done more than a few times before. With her semblance, one wrong turn led to several wasted minutes of waiting for her to notice she was in the wrong place and find her way back.

Speaking of Ruby finding her way back...

"Weiss!" Ruby called out and slid into the room just after Weiss noticed a disturbance in the air. "Professor Oobleck said we can work on our paper together!"

"Did he really?"

"Yeah! I mean, he said it has to be ten pages instead of five...but isn't this great? I'm so excited!"

Staring at Ruby, Weiss had no idea how to respond. On the one hand, Ruby just doubled the length of her paper. On the other hand...Ruby was excited to do homework. Plus, they could work on something together, which might be fun. They could test their partnership in the classroom, so to speak. And, ultimately, ten pages was still a piece of cake.

"Let's decide on a topic then," she said while scooting over so Ruby could pull up a chair beside her. "But first - we're supposed to stick together this week, remember? What if we got the invitation for the next challenge while you were away?"

When she looked at Ruby, an assortment of emotions flitted through silver eyes - starting with confusion before landing on remorse.

"I'm sorry! I forgot...but it won't happen again. Team RWBY is going buddy system for the rest of break!"

Satisfied with that answer, Weiss patted Ruby's knee before turning towards her notebook, where they could start working on their new paper.

"Do you have any ideas that you'd like to work on?"

"I know _exactly_ what topic I want to work on," Ruby replied, happy as a clam now that they had a joint project. "It's called 'whatever you want.'"

Shaking her head but smiling nonetheless, Weiss handed Ruby a pen so they could make notes.

"Here's what I planned to do," she said while opening her notebook to a page with her topic written across the top. She watched Ruby read it - her brow furrowed in concentration before another smile appeared.

"Love it! And I have ideas, too."

Smiling at the response, Weiss grabbed a pen and prepared to write down the slew of thoughts guaranteed to follow. Only a small percentage would be useful, but there was normally at least one diamond in the rough that would add Ruby's unique flair to their paper.

After sifting through countless ideas and narrowing it down to just a handful, the two of them made it through a good outline by the time Blake and Yang returned to the room. While Blake walked over to the dresser to calmly put away Gambol Shroud, however, Yang collapsed facedown on Blake's bed.

"Ughhh…" she moaned into the covers.

"What happened?" Ruby asked while she and Weiss turned towards the rather obvious cry for attention. With what looked like a considerable amount of effort, Yang rolled onto her side to face them.

"Blake decided to remind me that I'm not the strongest on our team."

When Weiss glanced Blake's way, she caught a smirk threatening to appear.

"I don't know if I can ever get up again," Yang added. "Sorry Blake, I'm getting your bed all gross since I can't even shower."

"Ok, you need to get up." When Blake tugged at Yang's hand, Yang refused to sit up. "Come - on," Blake huffed, struggling to pull Yang off the bed while Yang went limp and made it extra difficult.

After a few moments of fruitless struggles, Blake dropped Yang's hands and put her hands on her hips.

"Yang…"

"Hey, this is your fault," Yang replied with a smile. "You shouldn't have kicked my butt so bad."

"You shouldn't have let me kick your butt so bad," Blake retorted. Even though she tried to look annoyed, she failed miserably - like she always did when she and Yang flirted up a storm.

But their flirting storms led to exactly zero romance. Maybe it was time for someone to nudge them a little further. And what better way to nudge someone than by speaking their thoughts and wishes out loud?

"Why don't you kiss her?"

For one glorious second, Weiss' question hung in the air like a golden expression of hidden desires. Then Yang sat up, and Blake spun around in surprise.

"Uh, what?" Yang glanced at Blake to read on her reaction, but Blake refused to look away from Weiss. Her amber eyes studied Weiss with an intensity that would be unnerving if she hadn't grown up with Winter, but...she grew up with Winter, so it was more of just 'a look' than an 'intense' one.

"Well, looks like that worked too," she said and waved her hand before turning back to the desk with a smile.

"Uh…" Clearing her throat, Yang attempted a chuckle, but it came out more nervous than usual. "Guess I'll shower real quick, then we can get some food?"

"What if they send us the invite while we're at lunch?" Weiss cut in, spinning back around and shaking her head at the idea of potentially missing the notice. "They could send it any minute now."

"You really think they won't find us in the cafeteria?" Yang replied with a huff. "Do they expect us to not eat?"

"I don't know what their plan is, but we've all seen that they're not playing by any particular rules."

"Ok, but...Ruby's hungry."

When Yang gestured towards Ruby, Weiss took one look at her partner and sighed. Ruby might not even be hungry, but that cute doe-eyed look made it impossible to turn down the activity that made her happiest - eating.

"Fine," Weiss acquiesced. "But if we miss the challenge because of this…"

"It'll be fast!" Yang assured her before sneaking a look at Blake. "But let me shower first. I was serious about Blake kicking my butt."

With one last grin (reserved solely for Blake), Yang grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and hurried into the bathroom.

"Mmm lunch…"

Weiss shook her head and smiled at Ruby, who responded with a cute smile of her own.

"Are you ever not hungry?"

"That's a question with only one answer." Dropping her pen on the desk, Ruby rubbed her hands together and grinned. "And that's no."

"Didn't think so." With another shake of her head, Weiss nodded towards the beds. "Why don't you go play your game until then? I think we've done enough for now."

"You sure?"

When Weiss nodded again, Ruby made a delighted noise and hugged her before hopping out of the chair. "You're the best, Weiss!" Ruby added before jumping onto Weiss' bed and pulling out her scroll.

Surprisingly, it didn't bother Weiss that Ruby used her bed all the time. If anything, she liked that Ruby felt comfortable enough to spend time on her bed instead of constantly going up and down to the top bunk. Plus, there was something nice about sharing 'her' space with her partner. In a way, it reinforced the notion that they were _closer_ than just friends - they were partners, and that meant they shared a bond no one else would ever have.

Sometimes, it felt like the two of them were close enough to share emotions. Like right now, Weiss couldn't help but smile when she heard the familiar introductory music of Ruby's game - knowing that Ruby was on the cusp of doing something she enjoyed doing. And knowing that Ruby was happy made her happy.

Only when someone slipped into the seat beside her did she realize that she'd been staring at Ruby for a little long. Shifting her gaze away, she found Blake in Ruby's recently-vacated chair, her ears slightly flattened while her eyes flitted to the bathroom door.

"Hey Weiss," Blake said, keeping her voice to a volume meant to avoid Ruby's notice. "Do you think that...maybe you can take it easy - making comments like that?"

Weiss immediately knew what Blake was referring to, but decided to play dumb.

"Comments like what?"

"Like the one you just made." Again, Blake's eyes flitted to the bathroom door, clearly expecting Yang to walk in at any second. "About, you know, Yang and me kissing."

"Oh, that?" Waving a hand, Weiss let out a small laugh. "I was only joking. Why? Do you want to?"

Even though she asked the question as a joke, she watched Blake intently for the answer, wondering what it would be.

At first, Blake opened her mouth and seemed on the cusp of saying 'no,' but then she shook her head and said, "That's not the point. I just...don't want her to get the wrong idea."

To Blake's credit, she wasn't willing to lie about her wishes, but she also wasn't willing to be fully honest about what she wanted.

"Relax, Blake. This is Yang we're talking about - she gets comments like that from anyone and everyone."

"I don't want to be just 'anyone.'"

Weiss' eyes widened at the resolve behind the response, which appeared to be just as unexpected to her as it was to Blake. Unfortunately, Blake immediately backed away from the comment and put on that calm, impassive exterior once again.

"We're partners," she concluded as if she was trying to convince herself of that just as much as she was trying to convince Weiss. But when she stood up, looking determined to move on, Weiss reached up and stopped her from walking away. She didn't want Blake to leave the conversation on that note, but that's when Yang walked back into the room. And, in a typical display of immodesty, she wore only a towel while using a second towel to dry her hair.

Weiss watched the color drain from Blake's face, only to be replaced by a blush on her cheeks.

"We should make dinner with JNPR again," Yang said, oblivious to the look Blake was giving her. "Maybe we can cook this time. Although the half-cooked brownies weren't _that_ bad - right, Blake?"

As usual, Yang turned to Blake for an answer. Blake, however, was having a hard time processing the sight in front of her. With thoughts of kissing still undoubtedly on her mind and Yang standing in front of her wearing next to nothing, her imagination was probably running rampant and unchecked.

"I'll meet you guys there," she said before spinning on her heel and leaving the room by herself. Her exit was so sudden and unexpected, the rest of the room was left in stunned silence while the door swung shut.

"Uh...ok?" was all Yang said, looking miffed about what just happened. Thankfully, Ruby shared a glance with Weiss before hopping to her feet and chasing their teammate out the door.

"I'll go early too," she said when she was already out in the hall. "Hey Blake, wait up!"

Satisfied that Ruby would keep Blake company, and thus keep Blake from brooding too much, Weiss sighed and waited for Yang to get ready.

Her challenge had just grown more difficult. Blake _was_ considering her feelings, but the fact that she and Yang were partners stood in the way. The concern made sense - what if something went wrong? What if her feelings weren't returned? How would that impact their next few years together?

But what if everything went right? What if they became _better_ partners than they were now? Could Blake not see the way Yang doted on her? The way Yang lit up whenever she was in the room?

If Blake couldn't see that, then she _must_ see the way Yang treated Ruby. Anyone who watched Yang's interactions with Ruby would know the type of kind, caring person she not-so-secretly was. Maybe she pretended to be a flirt, but she wasn't. She didn't want to flit from person-to-person - she wanted _her_ person. One person to call her own, who would be there for her just like she would be there for them.

If Weiss had figured that out, surely Blake had too.

But there were more than two sides to this situation. What if they never confessed their feelings to each other? What if they spent the next few years holding their feelings at bay? Wouldn't _that_ impact their partnership as well?

"You ready?"

Looking up at Yang's question, Weiss found that her teammate was now fully clothed and ready for lunch.

"Yes," she replied while standing up and following Yang to the door. When the two of them walked into the hall together, she was struck by how different this felt compared to the beginning of school. She still remembered the tension and uncertainty she felt whenever alone with Yang, who she once considered to be the 'loose cannon' on their team.

Loose cannon...or an incredibly-caring teddy bear wrapped in a fun-loving exterior.

Once Weiss saw how Yang treated Ruby - with every bit of love she'd dreamt of as a child - her uncertainty faded away. Now, she counted Yang amongst her closest friends and biggest supporters. Sure, they bickered more often than not, but she knew she could count on Yang for anything. Hopefully, Yang knew that she could count on Weiss in return.

She wanted Yang to be happy, just like she wanted Blake to be happy. And she _knew_ that the two of them would be happy together, which was why she was so determined to see it happen sooner rather than later. Life was too fickle and too short to wait forever.

Which reminded her...time was running out to think of a gift for Ruby. She was still confident that she could think of something spectacular but, in order to do that, she needed to spend some time thinking about it.

"Christmas is coming up," she said while they headed towards the cafeteria.

"Yup! You excited?"

"I guess you could say that...do you know what you're getting Blake?" As soon as Weiss asked the question, Yang lit up with excitement.

"Yeah! I have a really good idea."

"What is it?"

"One of her favorite books."

Smiling at the response, Weiss replied with a truthful, "That's sweet of you."

"Coco knows the author," Yang added. "She said she'd get a signed copy for me if I take her cleaning duty for the next few weeks."

"You hate cleaning duty though."

"Yeah, but…" For a second, Weiss thought that Yang might actually say it - that she might admit out loud how much she liked Blake. Instead, she smiled and said, "But it'll be worth it."

"That's a very thoughtful gift," Weiss replied, although 'thoughtful' only began to describe such a wonderful present. Obviously, Yang had put a great deal of thought and effort into putting together a one-of-a-kind gift. Not only that, but she was willingly taking on additional cleaning duties to make it happen.

"Oh, well, you know, it's easy to come up with gift ideas for Blake. Plus, she deserves them, you know?"

"Mhmm…" Weiss murmured while they approached the cafeteria, with Yang wearing a silly Blake-induced grin that probably wouldn't go away anytime soon.

Weiss, meanwhile, couldn't help but dwell on Yang's present. An autographed version of Blake's favorite book? That went beyond a 'friend' gift. That was definitely a 'more-than-friends' gift. The only question was...would Blake see it like that?

The _more _important question was if Weiss could think of something equally amazing for Ruby. Following Yang's line of gifting, she could give Ruby an autographed blade created by one of her favorite weaponsmiths? Or a lifetime supply of her favorite brand of cookies? She could think of something spectacular, just like she could get Blake and Yang to admit their feelings.

At least, that's how she felt at the start of winter break, but two days had passed and she must admit she was disappointed in the results. Their team won the first challenge, but what about her personal goal? Two days and no progress on the relationship front. She expected more from herself.

Fortunately, she was finding more than enough opportunities to push her objectives forward, and the universe presented another one when she and Yang reached the cafeteria. Neptune was loitering in the hallway, and seeing him gave her an idea - a genius idea if she said so herself.

One of the easiest ways for hidden feelings of love to surface? A sudden spike of jealousy. The emotion was a clear indicator of deeper feelings, and its appearance could spark a conversation. At the very least, it should serve as a wake-up call that the 'just friends' line was a lie.

"I'll meet you inside," Weiss said, slowing her pace and waving Yang into the cafeteria ahead of her. "I'm going to stop by Professor Oobleck's really quick."

"Ok, cool." Seeing as how the professor's office was right across the way, Yang had no qualms entering the cafeteria alone. After waiting a few seconds to make sure Yang was out of earshot, Weiss walked over to Neptune.

For reasons she couldn't understand, he was leaning against the wall while lazily flipping a coin in the air. His purpose for loitering, however, was unimportant to her at this moment. Neptune was a notorious flirt. Attractive and arrogant, but harmless. The best part? He would do just about anything for fifty Lien.

He was perfect.

"Hey Neptune," she said while stopping in front of the boy.

"Hey Weiss." After sparing her a quick grin, he went back to flipping his coin, looking all too content with the simple activity.

"I was hoping you could help me with something," she added when it became clear he wasn't going to ask on his own.

"Oh, I dunno...I'm pretty busy right now."

Giving him a dubious look, she decided not to point out how incorrect he appeared to be.

"I can make it worth your while."

That got his full attention.

"How much we talking about?"

"Fifty Lien."

"Thirty!" he retorted before his eyes widened. "No fifty! You said fifty first!"

Waving off his response, she said, "Are you in?"

From the look in his eyes, he was already figuring out how to spend his upcoming windfall. Of course he agreed.

"What do you need?"

"I want you to find Yang in the cafeteria and flirt with her - a lot." Essentially, she was asking him to keep breathing, but in Yang's direction.

"That sounds easy," he replied with a grin. Seeing how confident he was, Weiss felt compelled to offer some words of wisdom. A warning - or at least a disclaimer so she could say that she warned him of the risks.

"You realize she might punch you, right?"

Even though the outcome seemed like a realistic one to Weiss, Neptune continued to grin.

"Not when she sees me work my magic." When he winked, Weiss rolled her eyes at the notion he had any sort of flirting capabilities whatsoever. "So that's all I gotta do?" he added. "Flirt with Yang and you'll give me fifty Lien?"

"That's it."

"Easiest money ever," he replied while walking into the cafeteria, whistling a tune and again flipping the coin in the air.

Left out of their conversation was that there _might_ be an angry Faunus involved, but...Weiss wasn't sure how Blake would respond so felt it was best not to bring it up. Maybe she wouldn't care about someone flirting with her partner. Maybe she'd brush it off as 'Neptune being Neptune.' In case she _did_ respond, however, Weiss hurried into the cafeteria to watch the situation unfold.

Neptune tracked Yang down right as she was about to leave the line, and Weiss went straight to their table and sat down next to Ruby. Ruby immediately pushed her tray over to share, but Weiss waved off the offer with a smile.

Ruby normally ate like someone who'd been wandering the desert for weeks, yet always offered to share with Weiss - wasn't that sweet? At the moment, however, she was a little too busy to eat...

"Where's Yang?" Blake asked almost as soon as she sat down.

"Getting food." Nodding over Blake's shoulder, she smiled when Blake turned around just in time to see Neptune 'work his magic.'

Apparently, 'working his magic' meant striking up an animated conversation with Yang, who looked more than willing to oblige. Weiss doubted the tolerance would last for long though - not when Yang was probably missing Blake more and more by the second.

Blake, however, looked more and more annoyed by the second, especially when Neptune turned up the charm and moved closer. The instant he stepped into Yang's personal space - leaving 'friendly and harmless' and entering _Blake's_ territory - Blake stiffened. Ducking his head, Neptune whispered something for only Yang to hear.

For her and her partner to hear, of course.

Suddenly, Blake watched the interaction with an unblinking gaze, sitting so motionless in her seat it looked like her spine had been replaced by concrete. Meanwhile, Yang seemed to sense how the conversation looked to outside observers, and looked like she wanted to remove herself from it as fast as possible. Whatever Neptune was saying certainly didn't help, as Yang shuffled her feet and frowned while Blake's ears lowered towards her head.

Then they reached the tipping point - Neptune leaned against the food cart and blocked Yang from walking away. For an instant, he looked like he might reach out and touch Yang's hair, which made Weiss' eyes widen in fear. Thankfully, he thought better of it and ran his hand through his hair instead.

Blake's knuckles were white from holding her fork so tightly, but she hadn't moved a muscle in the last few minutes. Maybe she just needed a nudge...

"Wow, doesn't look like Yang enjoys that, does she?" Weiss commented before turning to Ruby. Hearing a chair scrape against the floor immediately after, she looked over and watched Blake stalk across the cafeteria.

Was it jealousy fueling those stomps?

"Weiss -"

"Hold on, Ruby," Weiss replied, sending Ruby a quick smile and patting her knee to assuage her.

Weiss then turned back to the impending altercation and flinched when Blake grabbed Neptune's arm and twisted it behind his back. A loud yelp echoed through the cafeteria, bringing everyone's attention to the scene...but it was already over. Neptune rubbed his shoulder while scurrying away, and Blake stormed back to the table with Yang in tow.

"Remind me to apologize to Neptune later," Weiss said while her teammates reached the table.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked when Blake pulled out her chair and sat down in a huff.

"Nothing," was her curt reply as she picked up her fork and stabbed at her food.

"It was just...Neptune, you know…" Yang added before taking a bite to eat, sneaking glances at Blake every few seconds. For her part, Weiss tried not to smile - that would be a dead giveaway that she was involved in the incident.

But it worked. Blake Belladonna - the master of remaining calm and composed under any circumstances - had cracked. And why did she crack? Because a known womanizer flirted with Yang.

Neptune didn't even date the people he flirted with, and everyone knew he just did it for the fun of it. Yet Blake _still _couldn't stand whatever he said. She had to at least _acknowledge _those feelings now, right? How else could she explain that reaction - 'helping' her partner?

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ruby asked, catching Weiss' attention and looking far too concerned over a simple meal. Weiss had skipped plenty of meals before, but she didn't like when Ruby looked so worried about her, so she stood up and smiled.

"I'll get something right now," she replied before hurrying over to the line. Before she reached it, however, she spotted Neptune just outside the cafeteria doors. After glancing at her teammates and noticing that Ruby and Yang were already locked in an animated conversation, she ducked into the hall and caught Neptune's attention.

"Here you go." After fishing a fifty Lien note from her wallet, she handed it over. "Thank you for your help."

"Sweet!" He held up the bill and kissed it before shoving it into his pocket. "Didn't think Blake would tear my arm off though."

"Yes, that was...unfortunate."

"Just when I was making headway too! I could tell Yang was digging it."

Weiss looked at him like he was crazy. Which he was.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, feeling her disbelief grow when he grinned. "Then will you flirt with her again?"

That question put a dent in his smile, and he ran a hand through his hair while chuckling nervously.

"Uh...I dunno…maybe if Blake's not around..."

Smiling at the response, Weiss reached out and patted his shoulder.

"It's probably best not to push your luck."

"Yeah…"

"Dude!" someone suddenly shouted, flying around the corner and racing towards them. "We gotta -"

As soon as Sun spotted Weiss, he slid to a stop and threw on a smile.

"Heyyyy Weiss! How're you doing?"

"I'm fine…" she replied, eyeing the boy while he fidgeted and shuffled his feet.

"Cool. Uh, Neptune? We have that thing, remember?"

"What thing?"

"You know." Gesturing towards the door, Sun tried to convey something that Neptune was clearly missing. "That _thing_ we were talking about this morning."

"Uh, what?"

When Sun cleared his throat and glanced at Weiss, she understood.

"You got the notice, didn't you?" she asked, stepping towards him while he took a matching step back.

"Uh, what're you talking about?"

"Ohh that's right!" Neptune finally said. "We were waiting for details on the next challenge."

While Sun shook his head at Neptune's obliviousness, Weiss shot him a look.

"When and where?" she demanded.

"Why would I tell you?" Sun countered. "You're the competition."

"Because if you don't, I'll tell Goodwitch who keeps stealing her chairs." Crossing her arms over her chest, she smirked at the matching expressions of disbelief and concern on Sun and Neptune's faces.

"Uh, dude -" Neptune began to say, but Sun pulled out a small card and handed it over.

"Front of the library - five minutes," was all he said before grabbing Neptune's arm and dragging him away.

"Five minutes?" she repeated in shock, but the boys were already rushing outside. Without much time to spare, she glanced over the invitation before hurrying into the cafeteria to get her teammates.

"Ruby!" she called out when she was within hearing distance. "We need to go now!"

Even though Ruby didn't know what Weiss was referring to, she jumped out of her seat and said a quick, "Ok!" Blake and Yang, however, sent Weiss dubious looks.

"Go where?" Yang asked.

"They sent the invitations," Weiss explained while dropping Sun's invitation on the table. "Just like you said they _wouldn't_ do."

"Yeah, yeah." After reading the details on the card, Yang sighed and stood up. "So you were right. That _hardly _ever happens."

"Weiss is right all the time!" Ruby added, her cheerful grin not faltering when Yang shook her head.

"Of course you're on her side..." Yang grumbled while they hurried out of the cafeteria.

"They're going to have a race right after lunch?" Blake asked before shooting Ruby a glance. "How much did you just eat?"

"A ton! So full now."

Blake looked Yang before both of them turned towards Weiss.

"This might not be as easy as we thought it was…"

"She'll still win," Weiss replied and reached for Ruby's hand as they set off for the library at a near-jog.

"I'll do my best!"

Weiss didn't expect anything less from Ruby, who was willing to give her all at everything and anything (a little less applicable to schoolwork, but she would really try if Weiss told her to). Fortunately, five minutes was just enough time to make it from the cafeteria to the library. Although Weiss was mildly disgruntled that they were the last team to arrive, she took solace in arriving just in the nick of time.

"Welcome," Professor Ozpin greeted them as soon as they joined the other teams. "Glad to see we all made it in time."

The way he made the statement sounded like he _knew_ some of them hadn't received the invitation, which was _also_ mildly annoying. There was probably a reason behind the ploy though - maybe to teach them vigilance at all times, maybe as a test of their determination, or maybe just to mess with them (she didn't say it was a _good_ reason…).

"As you're aware," he continued. "Today's challenge is a race around Beacon." Pausing for a second, he looked at them before smiling - a smile that looked more like a smirk than anything else. "There is, however, a small wrinkle…"

As soon as he said the words, Weiss sighed and shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me…" she muttered under her breath before glancing at her teammates - all of them preparing for whatever came next.


	5. Chapter 5

"Is it still a race?" Cardin asked - the dry question drawing a few laughs and a smile from Professor Ozpin.

"It's still a race," he answered. "You'll find these small yellow tags marking your path." When Professor Ozpin held up a small, yellow flag, Ruby hopped up and down while Nora pumped one fist in the air. The rest of them, however, waited for the 'wrinkle' of this challenge to appear.

"What you didn't know is that this will be a partner race - two teammates must compete, and they'll have to tie themselves together with this."

Ruby and Nora immediately went flat-footed - their balloons of excitement popped - when Professor Ozpin held up a set of metal cuffs that looked suspiciously like repurposed manacles.

"Look familiar?" Yang whispered while nudging Blake's shoulder, drawing a deep blush in no time.

"The winning team will be the first to cross the finish line," Professor Ozpin concluded while handing the cuffs to Professor Goodwitch. "Choose your partners wisely."

Nora sprang to action first, grabbing Ren by the arm and dragging him to the starting line. After snatching the cuffs from Professor Goodwitch's hand, she locked her left leg to Ren's right and gave Professor Ozpin a salute.

"Ready! Right? We're ready?" When she turned towards Ren, he looked down at her and smiled.

"I'm ready whenever you need me."

While Nora was by far the most enthusiastic about this added twist, Sun and Neptune were the next to step up to the starting line, followed by Cardin and Sky. With three of the four teams set, Weiss' teammates turned towards her.

They didn't need to say anything. Not Yang or Blake, who looked smug or pleased by the change in plans. And especially not Ruby, who clasped her hands together and aimed pleading silver eyes Weiss' way.

"Fine," Weiss said, walking over to Professor Goodwitch and claiming the last set of cuffs. "Let's get this over with."

This wasn't at all what she'd planned, but they would still win. It wouldn't be nearly as commanding of a victory as Ruby would earn on her own, but she had full confidence in their ability to make this work. Even after locking her left leg and Ruby's right leg together, limiting them to a strange, three-legged hobble, she felt assured in their victory.

Perfect timing and coordination would be key to making this work. Fortunately, those were two areas of expertise they'd spent countless hours working on over the past few months.

"How does it feel?" Weiss asked while standing up. "It's not too tight, is it?"

"Nope! Feels fine!"

To prove that point, Ruby tried to wiggle her leg in the air. Luckily, she stopped before pulling Weiss' foot right out from under her.

"Please remember we're connected," she said before testing their new contraption for herself. As expected, it felt constricting and strange. And, the more Ruby fidgeted, the more Weiss worried about being tied together with the speedster. The last thing she wanted was to be pulled off her feet in front of everyone.

"Ok, outside legs first," she instructed Ruby before they shuffled to the starting line, alternating their steps so they didn't fall over.

"Looking good, Weiss," Yang teased.

"I'll save these for you and Blake to use later," Weiss shot back, glancing over her shoulder to watch Yang's jaw drop while Blake blushed a second time.

There was no time to add to that embarrassment, however, as Professor Ozpin looked them over and nodded.

"Are we ready?" he asked, again using the word 'we' as if he was also competing. A series of nods followed his question, and he was about to continue before he was interrupted.

"Oh! Not yet - gimme a second." When Nora turned towards Weiss and smiled, Weiss gave her a confused look. "Hey Weiss! Did you see that the other professors are watching?"

"They are?"

Spinning around when Nora pointed over her shoulder, Weiss then yelped when someone grabbed her foot and nearly pulled her off balance while yanking off her boot.

"Made you look!" Nora quipped before shuffling out of Weiss' reach - _still holding her shoe_.

"Nora!"

"You may begin," Professor Ozpin said before moving to the side as the other partners plowed forward.

"Professor!" Weiss whined while Nora took off with her shoe still in hand. She looked at the man hoping he would rectify the situation, but he merely gave another one of those amused smiles while lifting his mug to his lips.

"When no rules are given, Miss Schnee, we must assume anything goes."

That response, along with his clear entertainment at what Nora just did, made Weiss narrow her eyes.

"This is all just a big game to you, isn't it?"

When he took another sip of coffee and remained silent, she looked to her team - and Ruby, who hopped on one leg and made rapid gestures towards the first yellow flag.

"We need to go! You can run without it, right?"

"In the snow?" Weiss retorted. "Sure, if you want me to lose a foot to frostbite." Turning towards Blake and Yang, she motioned towards their feet. "Which one of you is closest to my size?"

"Probably mine?" Looking at Blake's feet, Yang smiled and nodded. "Yeah, probably mine. Blake has such cute little feet!"

_Of course_ Yang chose _now _to flirt with Blake. It wasn't like they were _losing_ this challenge or anything.

"I have an idea!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed before stepping closer to Weiss - so close that her heart stammered in anticipation of whatever Ruby's next words would be. And when Ruby reached out to hold her hands, her heart climbed higher still.

"Do you trust me?"

The question, combined with the look in Ruby's eyes, sent a flurry of emotions flitting through her chest.

"Of course," she breathed out, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that she trusted Ruby with her life. Even though she had no idea what Ruby's idea was, it didn't matter. Ruby could hand her a bomb and she would hold it without complaint.

Well...she might complain about that one a _little _bit...

When Ruby took another step closer - so close that their feet actually touched - Weiss struggled to figure out what the new plan was. Dropping Weiss' hands, Ruby wrapped her arms around Weiss' waist and pulled them flesh together, making Weiss' heart rate double in the process.

"Hold on tight," Ruby whispered into her ear.

And, the next thing she knew, they were flying. _Fast_. Faster than she'd ever traveled before. Faster than she'd ever _dreamed_ of traveling before. The world passed by in a blur - so fast that it took several seconds before she gathered herself enough to figure out what was happening.

Ruby was holding her around the waist, and Ruby was using her semblance. Ruby was using her semblance and carrying Weiss right along with her - the two of them intertwined within a cloud of petals while soaring across Beacon's grounds.

This was what it felt like when Ruby used her semblance. And it was...the most incredible thing Weiss had ever experienced. No wonder she insisted on traveling everywhere at the fastest speed possible.

Weiss had no control over their direction, but that didn't matter as the yellow flags flashed past one-by-one, nothing more than tiny blips on their radar while they flew through the course. The trail led them around the corner of the nearest building, which Ruby swung them around in a tight arc without losing speed.

It was at that moment that a laugh slipped through Weiss' lips - pure, unadulterated excitement at this new feat she hadn't known was possible. Somewhere beside her, she heard Ruby's giggles - caught in the rushing wind and quickly swept behind them.

Who cared if their legs were chained together? It didn't even matter - not with Ruby dictating the pace and direction. And, surprisingly, Weiss was more than willing to let go of those responsibilities. It was actually kind of nice. This way, she could enjoy the experience instead of worrying about winning.

Not that there was any way they'd lose.

"Say 'see ya' to CRDL!" Ruby called out, but Weiss hardly had time to pinpoint the two boys before they were left in Ruby's petal-filled dust.

Reaching one corner of campus in no time, Ruby then spun them to the right and followed the path of flags weaving through the buildings.

Calling this a race 'around campus' was yet another miscommunication perpetuated by the professors. 'Around campus' meant a straight line around the exterior of Beacon's grounds. This was the opposite of that - a weaving, unclear path cutting through campus in no particular manner. In some parts, it doubled back on itself. At others, it led into the heart of the school before swinging towards the periphery once more.

Thankfully, Ruby had no issue flying from flag-to-flag. Even at this accelerated speed, she reacted with a crisp precision Weiss had learned to expect from their practices. She was quick, sharp, and possessed a level of intuition far beyond her years.

In moments like these, Weiss actually enjoyed ceding every decision to her team leader. Sometimes it was nice to just...be along for the ride.

"Nora's up ahead!" Ruby called out then, and Weiss spotted Team JNPR's competitors in front of them. "Let's get your boot back!"

Grinning at the plan, Weiss pinpointed her shoe - which Nora was still holding, for some reason - while they rapidly approached the unsuspecting pair from behind.

Even though they were latched together, Ren and Nora moved surprisingly well. A clear rhythm stood out in their gate - an easy left-right-left-right that allowed them to run at a fast jog through the course. Weiss couldn't tell whether Ren was really good at reacting to whatever Nora did, or if Nora was reacting to Ren - either way, if Ruby hadn't discovered a way around the three-legged race, Weiss suspected the pair from Team JNPR could easily win.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case. If Nora stole Weiss' shoe, Ruby could use her semblance to get it back _and_ win the challenge. That seemed fair.

When the moment was just right, and Nora was almost within reach, Ruby slowed down. It was just long enough for Weiss to reach out and snatch her boot from Nora's hands before Ruby kicked her semblance into full speed once again.

Nora shrieked from behind them, but that was the only retaliation they faced (for now). Flying around the next corner, Ruby had them soaring past five more flags before Weiss even started laughing at how satisfying that redemption felt.

"That was awesome," she said, keeping a firm grasp on her boot while still hugging close to Ruby. She heard Ruby laugh at the response as the two of them flitted around campus at a steady, excessively-fast speed.

In the time she had left before the race was over, Weiss took a moment to enjoy the feeling of Beacon literally flashing before her eyes. Landmarks appeared and disappeared in a blink, giving her hardly a glimpse before they were at another location entirely.

Only when Ruby slowed did Weiss realize that the challenge was over. 'Normal' speed returned with a crush of gravity and loss of exhilaration, and Ruby gently released her so they could cross the finish line with a single step. As soon as they were on the other side, the two of them shared a smile - and she felt her heart grow even larger with adoration for this silly, hyper girl who was her partner.

"That was incredible," she said, hanging on to the end of their smile before finally putting her boot on and fixing her windswept hair. She hadn't prepared herself for that type of race - or any race at all - but, fortunately, it didn't take long to put herself back together. Once she had, she sent Professor Ozpin a look of triumph.

"Congratulations, Team RWBY," he told them with a bow of the head. "You've won this challenge. By a fair margin, at that."

"That was _awesome!_" Yang cut in, hurrying over and picking Ruby up for a hug - which made Weiss hop off to the side while trying to keep her balance. "I had no idea you could do that!"

When Yang set her back down, Ruby giggled.

"I didn't either!"

The comment immediately caught Weiss' attention.

"Excuse me?" she interrupted before waving a hand to get Ruby's attention. "You _didn't know_ you could do that?"

"Nope! But isn't it awesome? Just think of all the things we can do with it!"

Even though Weiss scoffed, and even though she _wanted_ to be affronted that Ruby just tested a potentially dangerous ability without her knowledge, it was impossible to be anything but happy when Ruby was so excited. Plus, Ruby was right - this new skill held enormous potential for their future battle strategies.

Maybe she should just be happy that it worked. And it worked superbly, at that.

"How was that?" Blake asked, nodding towards the trail of red petals left in their wake. Looking at the visible reminder of their whirlwind race, Weiss sighed.

"It was...amazing."

For whatever reason, Blake gave her a knowing smile, as if it made sense that she enjoyed the experience so much. Which..._of course_ she enjoyed it. Who wouldn't want the opportunity to feel what it was like to be Ruby Rose - the fastest girl at Beacon?

"You have to let me try sometime!" Yang said then, tapping Ruby's shoulder before bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"We can try! That'll be fun!"

Although the response was expected, a small ping of jealousy flitted through Weiss' chest. Of course Ruby was willing to share her newfound talent with whoever asked - she was a generous, thoughtful person, after all. But sometimes Weiss wished there was something that only she and Ruby shared.

It was unlikely to happen, especially when Yang and Ruby were prone to sharing everything, but she could dream.

Hearing the sound of footsteps and somewhat-labored breathing, she turned away from Yang and Ruby and found that Nora and Ren finally completed the course.

"Congratulations, you two," Professor Ozpin told them as they crossed the finish line. "You finished in second place for this challenge."

"We still got this!" Nora gave Ren a high five before meeting Weiss' gaze. When she glanced at the boot on Weiss' foot and walked over, tugging Ren into motion beside her, Weiss wondered what she would say. Would she be upset? Would she try to steal Weiss' boot a second time?

"That was so cool!" she said instead, and raised one hand to give Ruby a high five. "Can I try sometime? Please?"

This time, Ruby glanced at Weiss before responding.

"Maybe later! Need to work out some kinks with my team first."

Surprisingly, Nora accepted the answer easily. Instead of arguing for a turn right this second, she looked at Ren and motioned towards the dorms.

"Come on - let's show Jaune and Pyrrha our new trick!"

Without taking the cuffs off their legs, she started jogging away, prompting Ren to fall back into step with her as they made their way to the dorms. As they left, Cardin and Sky finally showed up, looking out of breath and deeply annoyed.

"Dude, that sucked," were the first words out of Cardin's mouth once they crossed the finish line. Kneeling down, he removed the cuffs from their ankles and dropped them on the ground. "Why is your balance so bad?"

"Pretty sure _my_ balance isn't bad..." Sky grumbled under his breath.

"Third place, Team CRDL," Professor Ozpin interrupted while Cardin glared at his teammate. "A worthy finish. And you can still win the challenge."

"Let's just go…" Cardin mumbled while stalking away, his teammates falling into step behind him.

With Team CRDL stalking away from the library, that left half of Team SSSN waiting for their teammates to return. Which…

"Where are Sun and Neptune?" Blake asked, voicing aloud the question the rest of them had. It seemed like they should be back by now, but they were nowhere to be found. Thinking back on their rapid flight around campus, Weiss tried to remember if she'd seen a flash of blue or blonde during that time. Or caught a whiff of way too much cologne.

"Uh…" When Ruby looked at Weiss, she looked equally miffed as to where the two boys disappeared to. "I don't remember seeing them?"

"I don't either. But they couldn't have gotten lost in the first few sections of the race, could they?"

Sage sighed at the response, and Scarlet muttered, "You'd be surprised…" while the two set out in search of their missing teammates.

"Fourth place for Team SSSN," Professor Ozpin stated before turning to the rest of them with a still-amused smile. "Thank you for participating in today's challenge. Keep an eye out for details of the next challenge tomorrow."

Weiss _wanted_ to roll her eyes at the remark, but she forced a polite smile as the man left them standing in front of the library on their own.

"At least we won, right?"

This time, she _did_ roll her eyes while turning to Yang.

"Yes, _we_ won alright -"

"We did!" Ruby interrupted, smiling so proudly at the results that Weiss instantly dropped what she was about to say.

As usual, Ruby was more than willing to share credit for her accomplishments. Weiss was prepared to fight for her to get fair recognition, yet she went and gave it all away again. Her graciousness and humility were to be admired, but sometimes Weiss wanted her to take credit for how amazing she was.

It would probably never happen, but at least their team knew, and the professors seemed to know, and some of the other students seemed to have a basic grasp of just how special Ruby was. But until everyone understood and gave her the respect she deserved, Weiss would keep singing her praises to anyone who would listen.

"Can we go inside now?" Blake asked before wrapping her arms around herself in an obvious cry for Yang's attention.

"Are you cold?"

And Yang fell right into Blake's subtle snare, because she immediately moved behind Blake and wrapped both arms around her waist. To add even more color to Blake's already-rosy cheeks (the cold, you see…), Yang rested her chin on Blake's shoulder and snuggled closer.

Spotting the picture-perfect moment, Weiss pulled her scroll out of her pocket and snapped a photo before either of them moved. She didn't even try to look inconspicuous about it, because why bother pretending when they weren't attempting to _not_ look like Beacon's cutest couple?

"Uh…" Yang said, lifting her head but not removing her arms from around Blake's waist. "What was that?"

"Just wanted a photo," Weiss replied before putting her scroll away and looking at the ground. "Guess we don't need these anymore." Kneeling down, she unclasped the cuff from around her ankle before gently removing the other half from around Ruby's. "Any takers?" she then asked, holding the cuffs in the air and giving Blake a look.

"I don't know what I'd need those for," Blake lied while pointedly turning away from the offer.

"I'll take 'em!"

Biting the bullet, Yang snatched the cuffs from Weiss' hands and grinned while swinging them around one finger (she kept her other arm around Blake's waist, because no way was she letting go until she absolutely had to). "Never know when they'll come in handy, right?"

"Like for more races!" Ruby piped in. As usual, she chose the most innocent answer available, which made Yang chuckle and nod.

"You're right, Ruby. Like for more races."

An idea sparked in Yang's mind then - clearly visible from the way she froze and her eyes lit up.

"I've got an idea - why don't _we_ race?" Gesturing from Weiss and Ruby to herself and Blake, Yang looked more and more excited by the second.

"Seriously? Ruby and I just flew across the _entire_ campus."

"Uh huh...that looked like a _lot_ of work for you, Weiss. You were really struggling there. Or should I say, you were really _snuggling_ there."

When Yang laughed at her own joke (and Blake smiled at Yang laughing at her own joke), Weiss pursed her lips and fought against the heat growing in her cheeks.

They hadn't been _snuggling_. They were holding onto each other while traveling at such a fast speed that it would've been ill-advised _not_ to cling together. Honestly, she didn't see any other way they could accomplish that feat while still winning the challenge.

But if Yang wanted to race...maybe there was a way to make it a little more interesting.

"You're just jealous," she shot back, knowing the mere mention of the word would get Yang's attention. "Now Ruby and I can race together - can you and Blake do that?"

The moment Yang's eyes lit up with an idea, Weiss knew she got her.

"We can _totally _do that!" Turning towards Blake, Yang wore one of those blinding smiles that was almost difficult to look at. "We can do that, no problem."

"I'm sure we can -"

"Then let's try it," Yang cut in. "We'll race them."

"What? No, Yang - I wasn't -"

Before Blake made an excuse for why this wasn't a good idea, Yang scooped her up in both arms and hugged her close.

It was another picture-perfect moment, and Weiss would take another photo if she thought she could get away with it. From the red glow on Blake's cheeks, however, any evidence of this moment wouldn't outlive the day.

On the other hand, Yang looked happier than Weiss had seen her since the day Blake asked if they could set up a 'partner-only' practice schedule. And what didn't she have to be happy about? She wanted to be closer to Blake, and now she got to carry her partner around in her arms - all to prove that they could _also_ race as a single unit.

Grimm, these two were so easy to mess with…

"Ok, but you've gotta give us a ten-second head start," Yang said before taking off towards their dorm at an easy gait. And, since Blake needed to secure herself in some way, she wrapped her arms around Yang's neck (for support, not because she'd always dreamed of holding onto Yang in that way).

Weiss watched the two girls race away and shook her head. It was obvious that they _could_ run together - Yang was strong enough to carry Blake without much difficulty - but that didn't mean they were even close to as fast as Ruby.

"You wanna beat them, right?"

The question proved that Ruby knew Weiss better than anyone.

"I think you know the answer to that," she replied with a smile that was returned tenfold. When Ruby stepped closer, her heart started beating faster again. Reaching up, she clasped her arms around Ruby's neck and shivered in anticipation when Ruby wrapped both arms around her waist.

"Ready?"

The two of them were standing so close, Weiss felt Ruby's words brush across her cheek and saw every bit of sparkling joy in Ruby's eyes. Tingles of thrill traveled up and down her spine, and she knew that what came next would be just as enjoyable as it had been the first time.

"Yes."

No sooner had she whispered the word, they were flying again. And again, a joyful, delighted feeling overcame her. Even if this had no practical purposes in combat, she knew that she wanted to do it again. And, thankfully, she knew that Ruby would oblige.

"There's Blake and Yang!" Ruby called out while they swept across the Great Lawn and whizzed past their teammates, who'd only made it a quarter of the way back to their room.

"That wasn't ten seconds!" Yang shouted after them, making both of them laugh while they soared past the cafeteria and up the steps of their dorm building. When they reached the front door, Ruby gently set Weiss down and opened it for her to walk inside. The entire experience only took a few seconds, yet they'd gone almost all the way across campus. It was an efficient...and fun...way to travel.

"Walking feels weird…" Weiss said as soon as she stepped into the building.

"Doesn't it?"

"And slow…"

Ruby looked over and grinned.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I believe I am."

This time, Ruby showed no hesitation in wrapping her arms around Weiss' waist and carrying them to their room in a dash of petals.

"Your room, milady," she added with a gracious bow while pushing the door open.

"You know what this means," Weiss mused while entering the room. Glancing over her shoulder and catching Ruby's inquiring look, she smiled and said, "It means we can leave later for class."

As expected, the idea of leaving 'later' for anything had Ruby whooping in happiness as she dove onto Weiss' bed. Weiss opened her mouth to complain but caught herself at the last second and shook her head instead. Walking over to sit down, she nudged Ruby out of the way so she could remove her shoes.

"You did really well today."

She only had the courage to say the words because Ruby wasn't looking at her right now. When Ruby rolled onto her side and smiled, she knew exactly why that was. Sometimes, Ruby had this strange magnetism to her - part charm, part allure, part irresistible sweetness.

Sometimes, it was easy to tell that she and Yang were related.

"You did great too, Weiss." Pushing herself into a seated position, Ruby patted Weiss' knee. "It was a partner race, after all."

Again, Ruby ceded her accomplishment to Weiss, who was merely a passenger along for the ride.

"You still did really well," Weiss replied, hoping that repetition might eventually make Ruby believe.

"You did too," Ruby repeated, stubborn as usual, before motioning towards the bathroom. "Do you wanna shower first?"

"Thanks, Ruby, but you go ahead."

"You sure?"

Weiss nodded and gestured towards the desk. "I'm fine waiting."

Not that it would be much of a wait. With Ruby's short hair and penchant for speed, her showers took a total of five minutes in and out of the bathroom. They'd timed her.

"Ok, I'll be back in a flash."

No sooner had Ruby disappeared into the bathroom did the door to their room open once more - this time as Yang and Blake returned.

"_Finally_," Weiss teased them while walking over to her desk. "We thought we'd have to search for you like Sun and Neptune."

"Ha ha," was the only response Yang gave before setting Blake down and keeping one arm around her waist for a second longer than necessary.

"You good?" Yang asked, her breathing slightly elevated from the run across campus.

"Of course." Tilting her head up, Blake probably didn't notice how she arched her back into Yang's arm at the same time. "Are you?"

"Of course." Yang grinned at the response while Blake finally moved away. "A little sweaty though," she added, wiping her arm across her brow. "Ruby's in the shower?" Before anyone answered, the water kicked on, and she nodded. "Guess I can wait."

And by 'wait,' she meant partially strip down in preparation for a shower, which she did by removing her jacket then pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it towards the hamper (it missed).

Rolling her eyes and turning away from the spectacle, Weiss couldn't help but wonder if Yang did it on purpose. Was she actually this immodest, or was she pretending to be in hopes of capturing Blake's attention?

If it was the latter, it was working. While Weiss pretended to read the notebook in front of her, she noticed the way Blake forced a disinterested, passive expression while almost openly staring.

Did Yang fall for that look? Did she believe that Blake wasn't interested in _staring_ at her when she was half-clothed? Or did she understand that the unwavering, unblinking gaze revealed far more interest than intended?

"Whatcha working on, Weiss?" Yang asked while pulling on a loose-fitted tee and walking over to the desk.

"The paper for Professor Oobleck's class." Placing the tip of her pencil on the page to mark her spot, Weiss watched Yang's brow crease before her eyes widened.

"Ooh...crap. I haven't started that."

"Better start working then," Weiss replied while turning back to her work.

"Can you help me with it?" Yang asked. "Maybe think of a topic or something?"

Even though Weiss was recognized as the smartest on her team, sometimes her version of smart didn't matter as much as people believed. Ruby was also brilliant. As was Blake, as was Yang...

"He's actually letting Ruby and I work on ours together." When Blake's ears twitched with interest, Weiss knew this was the right way to approach the matter. "She asked, and he said we could write a ten-page paper together if we wanted." After pausing to let that knowledge sink in, she gestured towards the two of them. "Maybe you could ask to work on your paper together, too?"

From the looks of enthusiasm on their faces (one overt, one more muted), she already knew their answer.

"That sounds...awesome?" Yang looked at Blake to see what her response would be. Blake, thankfully, nodded and even threw in a smile to match.

"That sounds really nice."

"Then let's do that!" Yang replied, jumping on the opportunity to integrate her life more fully with Blake's. "You wanna ask him? Or I can? Or we can?"

When the bathroom door opened and Ruby buzzed back into the room, Blake glanced away for a second before standing and moving towards the hall.

"Why don't I ask while you shower?"

"Efficiency - love it!" Slapping hands with Ruby (for no reason other than that she was nearby), Yang hurried into the bathroom while Blake disappeared into the hall. Ruby, meanwhile, looked in both directions before giving Weiss a confused look.

"Uh, what?"

"They're going to ask if they can work on Professor Oobleck's paper together," Weiss explained.

"Ohhh. Cool!" After shaking her head and spraying drops of water around the room, Ruby grabbed a chair and sat next to Weiss. "That's what we should work on too!"

"We should."

Secretly, Weiss loved when Ruby sat with her to do homework. She loved whenever they sat near each other and shared the same space, but it wasn't quite the same as sitting elbow-to-elbow tackling the same problem together. To Weiss, it felt like a much less strenuous version of fighting - the two of them standing together to accomplish any task, be it Grimm or homework.

"Where did we leave off?" Ruby opened her notebook and flipped several pages before landing on one and tapping her finger to it. "Here we go."

Turning towards her own notebook, Weiss smiled as she opened it to the page they'd worked on last.

"Are you still looking for sources for the third paragraph?"

"Just one more. Then I think we're..."

Ruby trailed off when someone's stomach grumbled. And, at first, Weiss thought the noise came from Ruby's (because Ruby's stomach was _always_ grumbling), but then Ruby looked at her without an ounce of embarrassment.

"Was that me?" When Weiss touched her stomach in surprise, Ruby burst into giggles.

"It was!" she said, looking way too pleased about the answer. "You're hungry, Weiss!"

"Apparently, I am..."

"You know what that means, right?"

With stars in her eyes, Ruby waited for Weiss' answer. For her part, however, Weiss had no idea what Ruby expected her to say. Her current hunger probably stemmed from skipping lunch, but she'd been a little busy sending Neptune after Yang to see what Blake would do. Of course, there was no way she could tell Ruby that (not that she _wouldn't _tell Ruby, but if Ruby let it slip to Blake...Weiss was as good as dead).

"It means I should eat something?" she guessed.

"It means _we_ should eat something," Ruby corrected her before taking her hands and pulling her out of the chair. "And I know just the place to find _lots_ of food."

"Seriously?" Even though Weiss already knew where this was going, she made no attempt to fight Ruby's pull. "You want to go to the cafeteria? We were _just_ there."

"There's no time limit on the cafeteria, Weiss. Plus, where else can we get food so your stomach stops complaining?"

"I have granola bars in my desk."

"Blech!"

"Ok, ok." Looking back at her notebook, which would go unused for now, she decided that they could work on their paper later. It was break, after all. Plus...it wasn't like it would take them long to make it to the cafeteria and back.

"Can we make this as quick as possible?"

The words hardly made it out of Weiss' mouth before Ruby crashed into her for a hug, and then they were off - the door hitting the wall behind them in their haste.


	6. Chapter 6

Wednesday marked the midpoint of the week and an unexpected lull in activity. After breakfast concluded (in record time thanks to the much-abbreviated trip to and from the cafeteria), Weiss and her teammates relaxed in their room. Mostly because they had nowhere else to be, but also because she refused to leave and risk missing the details for today's challenge.

Some of them took the break seriously and decided that catching up on celebrity gossip or playing hours of a new scroll game were worthy of their time. Even though Weiss wanted to argue for more productive endeavors, she knew better than to push her luck. She was already fortunate to have their participation in The Winter Challenge; she couldn't force them to spend their entire break doing what she wanted.

Plus, it was both fascinating and adorable to watch Yang and Blake cuddle-but-not-really-cuddle while Yang explained who the celebrities were, who they were dating, had dated, or were 'for sure' going to date, and what made them famous. Meanwhile, Ruby added sporadic squeaks or squeals to the soundtrack of the room while playing that dumb game of hers (and no, it wasn't dumb just because Weiss sucked at it).

Overall, Weiss was grateful for the time to spend with her teammates. Even though she used her free time to work on school-related items, she felt content and included even though they did their own things.

"Hey Weiss," Yang spoke up then, looping her into the conversation for the third time in the past hour. When she again turned away from the desk, not at all as irritated as she should be, Yang held up a magazine to show her a picture of some actress. "Sky Redd - what do you think? Hot or not?"

Of course, whenever she was pulled into the conversation, it was to answer questions like this. Which...actually didn't bother her too much.

"Really?" she replied with a forced scoff. "Either way I answer, you'll think I'm wrong."

"Knew it." Yang turned the magazine around and grinned at Blake. "She's into brunettes."

When Yang winked, Weiss scoffed again and added an eye roll for good measure. Before she could reply, however, an envelope slipped under their door and Ruby practically fell out of bed in her haste to retrieve it.

"Be careful!" Weiss warned, but Ruby had already opened the door and burst into the hall. A second later, she made a disgruntled noise, dashed back inside, and picked up the envelope on the floor.

"If only you were faster…" Yang lamented with a shake of her head, then laughed when Blake nudged her side.

"I'll catch them eventually." Already forgetting her disappointment at being bested by the mystery letter deliverer yet again, Ruby smiled and tore open their newest envelope. Removing the single piece of paper from inside, she read the details aloud.

"'Think being a huntsman is all about fighting Grimm? Think again. Cooperation with others is sometimes the key to success.'" Lowering the letter, she glanced around the room with a confused look on her face. "Uh..."

"What does that mean?" Yang asked, finishing Ruby's question for her.

Gesturing for the letter, which Ruby willingly handed over, Blake read it a second time and nodded.

"It's a riddle," she deduced before giving the letter to Weiss. "Whatever we need to find, the other huntsmen have. My guess is the upperclassmen."

"So we...what?" Yang asked. "Ask them for it?"

"Or steal it."

"Blake!" Ruby gasped before pointing towards the card in Weiss' hands. "It says 'cooperation!' You can't just steal it - that's the opposite of cooperation!"

When Blake shrugged and leaned into Yang's side, Weiss couldn't help a soft chuckle at the suggestion. The idea of cooperating with the upperclassmen had her agreeing with Blake - why cooperate when it was probably easier and faster to snatch whatever they were looking for without being caught? Besides, hadn't Professor Ozpin made it clear that playing outside the rules was allowed?

Unfortunately, if she spoke up in support of Blake's plan, she would earn a Mom-ism guaranteed to make her feel like a horrible person for the rest of the year. So she stayed quiet and passed the letter to Yang, who read it and sighed.

"Ok, so..._all_ of the upperclassmen know about this," Yang pointed out before dropping the paper onto the bed beside her. She made the statement sound important, but the rest of them just stared at her, which made her sigh again.

"If _we _knew the other teams were looking for something, wouldn't we _pretend _to have it - even if we didn't - just to make them do something crazy? That'd the fun, right?"

Scrunching her nose, Weiss thought that sounded like the opposite of fun. Why would she trick her classmates? Was that supposed to be a joke or a prank? (She still couldn't tell the difference.) Yang, however, was more in tune with the general student body, which meant that her way of thinking was most likely correct.

"Basically...the upperclassmen will trick us into thinking they have these things?" Ruby asked, earning a nod from Yang and sigh from Blake. Spending their day kowtowing to the upperclassmen sounded horrible, especially when they had no idea who was valuable and who wasn't. If they could weed out the fakers, the challenge would be easier.

But they _did_ have a way to figure out who they needed to speak to and who they didn't…

"I have an idea," Weiss spoke up. "Blake can find out _who_ we should cooperate with. That way we don't waste our time with anyone who doesn't have what we're searching for."

When Blake smirked and nodded at the suggestion, Ruby shared a look with Weiss before breaking into a big smile.

"That sounds like a good idea!"

With Ruby's approval, Blake stood up, grabbed her jacket, and walked out the door.

"I'll be back in an hour."

The moment Blake slipped into the hall, Yang sighed and leaned against the wall but kept her eyes trained on the door.

"Grimm, she's so cool…"

The uninhibited response provided a glimpse into Yang's feelings, and Weiss smiled at what she saw. Admiration, adoration, longing - the only thing missing was _forthcoming_, because that was the only way those feelings would amount to anything.

When Yang sighed again and hung her head, however, Weiss' smile disappeared. That response had a little too much unhappiness in it for her liking.

With Ruby jumping onto Weiss' bed to resume her game, Weiss decided that it might be time to check in with Yang. Because _that_ reaction wasn't at all conducive to confessing deeply-rooted feelings of love for another.

Leaving the desk behind, she walked over and sat next to Yang.

"Hey."

"Hey," Yang replied with a smile, but her smile was a little more...forced...than usual.

Glancing across the room to make sure Ruby wasn't paying attention, Weiss moved closer and lowered her voice.

"Are you doing ok?"

Of course, Yang's immediate response was a scoff and another forced smile.

"What do you mean? I'm doing great." For a second, it looked like she would maintain the lie, but then she sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "It's just...sometimes I feel like a total misfit on this team."

It wasn't the Blake-related issue Weiss expected, but she was still more than willing to put Yang's worries at ease.

"What do you mean?"

Surprisingly, Yang looked more than willing to discuss her emotions with _Weiss_, of all people.

Having friends was a strange but wonderful thing...

"Like, you're super smart," she explained with a gesture towards Weiss. "Ruby's a strategy genius. And Blake...Blake's like an awesome combination of you two. But I'm…" After briefly lifting her hands, Yang let them fall into her lap and sighed.

"You're really good at punching things," Weiss offered, and Yang finally looked her in the eye.

"I'm a slacker, Weiss - let's call it what it is."

"You're not a slacker."

"Compared to you three, I am."

Sighing at the response - which was fundamentally incorrect - Weiss realized that Yang needed an ego boost, which was something she _never_ thought she'd have to give Yang, of all people. But there was more to Yang than met the eye. Upon first introduction, her confidence and self-assuredness showed through in spades. Lurking underneath that fearless exterior, however, was a side of her that only her teammates would see. It was...well, this.

Yang worried that she wasn't good enough. She wasn't smart enough, pretty enough, strong enough, courageous enough...and those were the reasons for all the bad that ever happened to her.

They all had their insecurities, but now they had teammates to help them work through their pasts. Weiss understood that now.

"Yang…" she began, again keeping her voice soft to avoid Ruby overhearing. "Do you realize that you're the best hand-to-hand fighter at Beacon? And, as much as it annoys me to admit, one of the best all-around fighters too?"

"Big deal, I'm good at punching things."

"_And_," she continued as if Yang hadn't said anything. "You are _not_ a misfit. You make our team better - not just because of your fighting style, but because you have more people skills than the rest of us combined."

"That's not a thing -"

"Yes, it is. Ruby can be awkward. Blake is reserved, to put it lightly. And I'm…" Trailing off, she considered a few harsh words before shaking her head. "We both know I'm not the easiest to deal with."

When Yang didn't look convinced, Weiss decided she needed to take this reassurance a step further.

"People _like_ you, Yang," she added with emphasis. "That's a quality none of us can duplicate. Why do you think at least one person on every team at Beacon has a huge crush on you?"

When Yang bit her lip but remained quiet, Weiss thought she might've made an impact, albeit a small one. Eventually, however, Yang grinned.

"I knew you had a crush on me." When Yang gently punched her in the shoulder, Weiss raised her brow.

"Excuse me?"

"I could just _feel_ it, you know? That was a smooth way to tell me though - 'one person on every team…'" Yang's smile made it obvious that she was teasing, but Weiss scoffed anyway.

"You wish." When she stood up to walk away, however, a warm hand grabbed her wrist.

"Weiss, wait."

Turning back, she found that Yang's teasing smile had been replaced by a more timid one.

"Um...thank you."

When she smiled, Yang smiled back - her gratitude clear and genuine...until that smile became more of a smirk.

"Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to turn your confession down…"

"Oh for Grimm's sake," Weiss huffed while pulling her wrist free and stalking back to her desk. "Next time, I'm leaving you to wallow in self-pity."

Listening to Yang's laughter from behind her, Weiss couldn't help but smile while she went back to work and Yang went back to reading her magazine. At some point or another, each of them felt undeserving of their spot on this team. What Weiss had learned, however, was that if _none _of them deserved to be here...then who did?

The answer, of course, was that they were exactly where they were meant to be. One day, they would all believe that.

With content silence falling over the room, she found herself too distracted to go back to work. From what the vague instructions suggested, the challenge had started as soon as the envelope slid under their door. In that case, the other teams could have already collected whatever they needed to collect.

What if waiting for Blake was the wrong decision? What if they were already falling behind?

That was an alarming thought, but Weiss couldn't do anything about it now. The decision was made, and Yang would refuse to leave before Blake returned. Grimm forbid the two spend a second longer apart than necessary.

With that in mind, she waited impatiently for Blake to finish her quest. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long. Even though Blake said an hour, she could probably finish in less than that - that's just how she was. Fast and deadly efficient - two traits Weiss highly admired in any teammate or friend.

Fortunately, she only made it through several random news articles before the door opened and Blake walked inside. Her arrival immediately garnered their attention - and _complete_ attention from a certain someone - while they awaited her report.

"Well…" she said, drawing out the answer with a smirk of pride. "They weren't exactly creative with what we're looking for _or _who has it. They gave silver keys to the team captains."

"That's...unoriginal," Weiss agreed, earning a nod from Blake.

"But makes it easy to remember," Ruby piped in.

"And now we don't have to figure out who has one and who doesn't," Yang concluded with a smile for Blake. "You're so awesome."

As usual, Yang didn't miss an opportunity to give Blake a compliment, and Blake didn't miss the chance to blush at the compliment.

"The other teams are already out talking to people," she said instead of acknowledging Yang's praise. "I saw CRDL doing a bunch of jumping jacks for someone."

"You know what that means!" Ruby hopped to her feet and struck a pose pointing at Weiss, meaning Weiss was supposed to answer.

"That those boys are still idiots?" she joked while standing up.

"No! Well, yes. But it means we should go!"

The rest of them chuckled at Ruby's response while collecting winter jackets and embarking on this newest challenge. Armed with the knowledge of who and what they were searching for, they should have an easier time procuring as many keys as possible. At least, in theory they should have an easier time. Who knew what the team captains would ask for...

"Do I even want to know how you got this info?" Yang asked Blake while they headed towards the exit of the dorms.

"Not if you want plausible deniability…"

"Please." Scoffing at that idea, Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's shoulders the moment they stepped into the cold. "If you're going down, I'm going down with you."

"Then I'd better teach you how to lie."

When Yang laughed at the response, Weiss shook her head and focused on the challenge rather than her teammates' incessant flirting. As great as it was that Yang and Blake were partners in life _and_ crime, they had a challenge to win. And, unfortunately, the challenge wasn't 'harbor a soul-encompassing crush on your partner, yet find every way possible to _avoid_ telling them your feelings.' If it was, they would've won upon receiving the invitation.

Seeing as how the professors hadn't thought to play upon the language of love, they had team captains to find. And, as luck had it, it looked like all of Beacon was out today. The warmer weather helped, with the sun melting some of the snow, but Weiss suspected that the upperclassmen were outside for a different reason - to prey on underclassmen trying to complete a challenge.

"Ok," Yang said, her arm still wrapped around Blake's shoulders while the four of them stood at the edge of one of the campus' busiest areas. "Who do we talk to first?"

Scanning the grounds in search of a team captain they might be somewhat-familiar with, Weiss instead saw Nora, who tossed a silver-plated key in the air while walking past.

"Where'd you get that?" Ruby asked.

"That guy gave it to me!" When Nora gestured over her shoulder to one of the upperclassmen, the rest of them squinted to see who it was.

"Isn't that the guy you knocked through a wall a few days ago?" Blake asked.

"_Accidentally_ knocked through a wall," Nora corrected before giggling. "I think he remembered."

Most people remembered being knocked through a wall, and it looked like the boy's teammates did too. That explained why they were teasing him for giving up his key to avoid a longer and potentially deadlier interaction with Nora.

"Gotta find more!" she added before pointing towards a group of students walking nearby. "See you later!"

Armed with nothing but her wits and persistence, Nora left the rest of them in stunned silence. If Weiss knew anything about her teammates, they were wondering how Nora was such an unwitting expert at these challenges (except for Ruby, who was probably calculating how many minutes stood between her and dinner).

But if Nora already had one key, they were already losing - and Weiss hated losing.

"Ok, we can mark them off the list." Raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun, she searched for another team captain nearby.

"How about him?" Ruby asked, pointing towards the series of circular tables near the cafeteria.

The boy in question sat on one of the tables and talked to another member of his team. From his posture - leaning forward and casually resting his hands on his knees - he looked like he didn't have a care in the world. The way his eyes flitted to every person passing by, however, gave away his ulterior motive for sitting outside today.

"What's our strategy?" Blake asked as the four of them headed towards the boy, who hadn't noticed them yet.

"Isn't that obvious?" From the way Ruby asked the question, Weiss felt like she should already know the answer. When nothing came to mind, she and Blake both looked at Ruby in confusion.

"Is it?" Weiss asked, knowing that Blake wouldn't voice her confusion aloud.

"Yeah!" With a big smile, Ruby turned towards her sister. "We have Yang on our team, and Yang can convince anyone out of anything!"

"You bet I can," Yang replied with a confident grin.

Ruby was a genius - there was no doubt about it. Either she overheard Yang and Weiss' conversation earlier, or she was just _that_ intuitive. What better way to boost Yang's self-esteem than providing her a chance to shine? And convincing boys out of their possessions was an area where she shone like the sun.

"Alright guys, watch and learn." With that, she walked over to the boys with all of the charm and swagger she was capable of.

"This should be fun," Weiss whispered to Ruby, who giggled and leaned into her side while Blake watched from beside them.

The young man locked onto Yang as soon as he saw her, causing him to sit straight on his perch while she approached. From this distance, Weiss couldn't hear the conversation, but Yang must've said 'hello' because both the boy and his teammate responded with quick words and smiles of their own.

As the dialogue continued, Weiss wanted more and more to know _what_ Yang was saying. How would she convince him to hand over the key without forcing them into some obnoxious or difficult challenge?

When the boy made a comment and Blake scoffed, she realized that Blake was listening to the conversation. Apparently, she didn't like what she heard? To Weiss, the chat seemed to be going well. While the boy was initially reluctant to give up his only bargaining chip, Yang wore down his resolve with a flurry of flirtatious smiles and not-so-subtle touches of his elbow.

"She convinced a guy to give her his car once," Ruby whispered while they watched the interaction from afar.

"Did she really?" When Weiss looked over, Ruby nodded.

"Said she needed a ride home, and he offered to give her one - she accepted the keys but not him." Ruby giggled at the memory, which made Weiss smile and return her gaze to the interaction taking place.

She could see Yang doing something like that - she could be obnoxiously charming sometimes. Even Weiss, who had few reasons to do what Yang wanted _ever_, sometimes felt her resolve waver when subjected to the full brunt of Xiao Long charisma.

This poor boy never had a chance. All Yang had to do was bat her eyes, smile, laugh…

When Yang's laughter filtered to them, Weiss shot Blake a look of concern. If Blake was jealous, however, she did an excellent job hiding it behind a passive face. Yang was laying it on _pretty_ thick though...

But it worked. A few minutes later, the boy handed over a silver key, and Yang thanked him before strolling back to them with a smug smile.

"That was easy," she bragged, tossing the key in the air before catching it and slipping it into her pocket. "Who's next?"

"That tall boy with blonde hair," Blake explained, but her words were a little shorter and crisper than normal. "He's probably still playing basketball in the gym."

With their course set, the four of them traipsed across the quad to the large building housing the gym and several other sports courts for students to use. Unsurprisingly, Blake was right - their next target was playing basketball with a group of other students.

"Should we wait for them to finish?" Ruby asked as they approached the edge of the court.

"Naw. I'll just get his attention."

With that, Yang walked up to the edge of the basketball court and waved to get the boy's attention. He did a double-take upon seeing her, but when she motioned him towards her with one finger, he pulled himself out of the game and jogged over. From the way they then slapped hands and hugged, they already knew each other.

"Of course…" Blake muttered while Yang worked her magic. Not that she needed to do much to win this boy over - it looked like he was already eating out of the palm of her hand.

Which meant that they might have stumbled across one of the crushes Weiss mentioned earlier...and Blake's impassive exterior had broken. Instead of remaining expressionless, her jaw clenched and unclenched in annoyance, her posture remained stiff and rigid, and her eyes narrowed while watching the interaction.

This might be an unintended consequence of helping Yang get her confidence back. She was proving Weiss right - that she had more people skills than the rest of them combined - but they might be going overboard in making Blake jealous. A _little_ jealousy was a good way to highlight feelings that hadn't yet been vocalized, but too much jealousy was bad news - which meant Weiss somehow needed to steer them away from the never-ending flirt-fest this challenge had become.

When Yang laughed again, Blake's ears flicked with some unknown emotion, and Weiss cringed at the situation. Blake was ok with Yang's flirty behavior so long as it was directed at her. Seeing it used on anyone else, however, wasn't nearly as acceptable.

But Yang's tactics worked, just like Ruby said they would. A few minutes into the conversation, the boy pulled out a silver key and extended it to Yang. When she tried to take it, however, he pulled it out of reach and grinned. Then he said a few words, and Blake's jaw snapped together at whatever they were.

After a brief moment of indecision, during which Yang glanced their way, she gave the boy a hug and kiss on the cheek. He made another comment before laughing, and Weiss could swear she heard something like a growl come from Blake's throat. Fortunately for the boy, who was probably one sentence away from meeting a very angry Faunus, he handed over the key and waved goodbye.

Overall, this challenge seemed too easy, especially with Yang talking people out of their keys, which she was clearly enjoying. Flouncing away from the basketball court, she pocketed the second key while wearing a triumphant grin.

"Who's next?"

"Why don't we find Coco?" Weiss suggested, trying to steer them away from more excessive displays of flirting. Although with Coco...it was hard to know what to expect. "She has one, right Blake?"

"Yes."

Weiss winced at the terse response, and Yang gave her partner a curious look. But Blake didn't acknowledge either of them while spinning on her heel and leading the way towards Team CFVY's dorm building.

"This is _not_ going to be as easy," Yang pointed out while they walked, likely referring to Coco's...more demanding demeanor. As good as Yang was at flirting, Coco was better - and she wasn't the type to fall for a pretty face and some smooth words. No...an actual challenge or task would be involved this time, and they could only hope Yang talked Coco down from something too arduous.

"There's Velvet!" Ruby called out, pointing towards the Faunus girl walking away from the building that held the photography workshops.

"Perfect. Maybe she can tell us where Coco is," Yang said, voicing Weiss' thoughts while leading them over.

"Hey Velvet," she called out, capturing the girl's attention with a warm smile and an even warmer hug. "We're looking for Coco - do you know where she is?"

"She said she'd be hanging out in front of the dorms all day," Velvet replied, taking a step away from Yang in order to give the rest of them kind smiles. "If she's not there, someone probably beat you to her."

As usual, Velvet explained the situation exactly as it was. Games or misdirections didn't exist within her repertoire of communication - a trait that the rest of Team CFVY alternatively loved and hated, depending on the situation.

"Thanks!" Yang replied, patting Velvet's shoulder and turning in the right direction. "Any idea what she's gonna want from us?"

"Unfortunately, no…" While Velvet looked somewhat aggrieved that she couldn't provide an answer, Yang laughed and waved away the concern.

"I love a good surprise anyway," she added, seamlessly erasing Velvet's regret and replacing it with a soft smile.

"I'm sure she'll have one of those for you." Taking a step away, Velvet glanced at each of them in turn before smiling. "Good luck."

As Velvet headed away, Weiss watched after the girl with a smile pulling at her lips.

"Velvet's so nice," Ruby said while the four of them hurried towards the dorms.

"She is," Weiss readily agreed. Velvet was one of the sweetest people in the school (along with Ruby), which only further highlighted the different types of people who felt a calling to become a huntress or huntsman. Some wanted the thrill of fighting, some wanted to change the world, others wanted to protect those in need.

Ultimately, whatever their cause or calling may be, it brought them all together. And, in Weiss' case, it brought her to this moment - where they were about to figure out what challenge Coco had in store, all in the name of giving Blake a temporary reprieve from her jealousy. Depending on how the next few minutes went, it might or might not be worth it.

"Guess no one's finished her challenge…" Blake mumbled when they rounded the corner and found Coco casually leaning against a small tree near the entrance of the dorms, looking bored as could be.

Weiss suspected that the 'always disinterested' persona was nothing more than a mirage - a mask that Coco hid behind to conceal something else. The mask was so expertly maintained, however, that she had no idea if her suspicions were right. Based on her track record and above average observational skills, however, she was correct.

"You're up," she told Yang when they were a safe distance away, and held out a hand to keep Ruby near her side.

"Ok, uh, we'll see how this goes." After taking a step forward, Yang rubbed her hands together and turned towards Blake. "Wanna come with me?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

"Now you want my company?" When Yang's brow furrowed at the uncharacteristically snappy response, Blake shook her head and took a deep breath. "Of course," she said before striding purposefully towards Coco, walking so fast that Yang had no choice but to forget the comment and hurry to keep up.

Blake was still willing to keep Yang company, which was a relief. If she got _too_ surly, she would refuse to do anything. Still, it was probably best not to push their luck…

"Yang can still do it," Ruby said as her sister struck up a conversation with the leader of Team CFVY.

Weiss smiled at Ruby's blind faith and felt no desire to point out the potential flaws in that logic. At one point, she would have done just that, but Ruby's admiration of Yang was adorable and reminded her of how she felt about her own sister. Although...even she would question Winter's ability to convince Coco out of anything.

With her arms crossed and posture casual, Coco looked like this was just another day for her. If she enjoyed the attention, she didn't show it. If she hated the attention, she also didn't show it. She was, as usual, impossible to read. At least, impossible for Weiss to read, but maybe Yang would have more luck.

From a distance, the conversation seemed to be going well - Yang said a few words while Coco listened. Then she nodded towards Ruby and Weiss, and Yang looked back at them in surprise. A few more words were exchanged, then Yang waved them over.

"Oh great…" Weiss muttered, knowing that their first real challenge was on the horizon. Gently taking Ruby by the elbow, she led them over to join the rest of their team.

"Wonder what she wants," Ruby whispered while they approached the towering team leader. Weiss couldn't even venture a guess, but she was _not_ a fan of the way Coco was looking at her right now - like Coco somehow just beat her when they weren't even competing.

"Hey guys," Yang said, glancing at Coco before smiling at Ruby and Weiss. "Coco has a challenge for you, Weiss."

Of all the scenarios Weiss could dream up, this wasn't one of them.

"Why me?"

Tipping her sunglasses, Coco looked down at her with a smug smile.

"Because you're the perfect one for this."

The vague response left so much room for interpretation, Weiss couldn't decide whether to be curious, flattered, or offended. From Coco's expression, she should probably be a combination of all three.

"Ok…" she replied even though her reservations grew along with Coco's smirk. "What is it?"

She wasn't going to like it - she knew that as soon as Coco opened her mouth.

"I want you to kiss one of your teammates."

"...what?" Dismayed by the request, Weiss looked at her teammates and found equal expressions of shock on their faces. Of course, Coco shrugged as if the dare was no big deal.

"How is that _at all_ relevant to this competition?" Weiss demanded. It was a legitimate question, but Coco shook her head.

"You don't get it, do you? The Winter Challenge isn't about winning - it's about growing closer as a team. That means sometimes you need to loosen up and go with the flow. Which you, of all people, need to do." When Weiss pursed her lips at the implied insult, Coco shrugged again. "You don't have to. CRDL ran the other way."

Weiss wanted to say that Coco was joking, but she wasn't the joking type. And she wasn't the type who could be reasoned with, but Weiss could still try.

"That's not a fair challenge because I need their permission for something like that," she pointed out.

"Are you saying that none of them will let you?"

She strongly disliked the smug look on Coco's face, but she looked at her teammates. Yang stared at her before giving a miniscule nod.

"I mean, I will…" she muttered before casting a look towards Blake, who wasn't meeting anyone's eyes at the moment.

"I'd be willing, too…" Blake mumbled towards the ground.

And Ruby…

Ruby's cheeks turned beet red the instant Weiss looked at her.

"O-of course, Weiss! I mean, if you really want to win - I wouldn't, like, mind…"

She _did _want to win, and she abhorred the idea of walking away from any challenge - _especially_ Coco's. Coco looked like she _knew_ that Weiss would back down, and Weiss wanted to prove her wrong. Because, for as smart and accomplished as Coco was, she was wrong. Weiss _could_ 'loosen up,' and she _was_ close to her teammates.

Yang seemed like the obvious answer, but she would never let Weiss live it down afterward. Plus, it might push Blake even further away.

Blake was obviously reluctant, which made Weiss reluctant. That left just one option...

Sighing, she reached out for Ruby's hand.

"Come here," she grumbled while pulling Ruby closer. When they were standing just inches apart, she tried to ignore the blush creeping up her neck as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ruby's cheek. Ruby's skin was soft, warm, and she smelled heavenly, but Weiss didn't linger long before pulling away - both of them now blushing profusely.

"You call that a kiss?" Coco asked, one brow arched above her glasses.

"I'm not about to take her first one!" Weiss retorted. After considering that answer for a second, Coco nodded and pulled a silver key from her pocket.

"You've earned this," she said and dropped it in Weiss' hand before walking away. From her walk, her posture, her nonchalance, she didn't care at all for what she just had Weiss do. Weiss, however, stared after Coco for a few moments before swallowing her embarrassment and turning around.

"So, what's next?" she asked, avoiding eye contact with her teammates and wishing her blush away.

It was only a kiss on the cheek - it was no big deal. She never kissed anyone on the cheek so it _felt_ like a big deal, but it wasn't. Probably.

"Um...find another captain, I guess?" Yang suggested after a moment of silence. Blake sighed at the idea but, when Weiss looked up, walked in the opposite direction with a soft "follow me." Yang furrowed her brow before hurrying after, but Weiss looked at Ruby before moving.

And Ruby gave her the most adorable, bashful little smile she'd ever seen. It was the type of smile that wanted Weiss to be ok with what just happened, which...how could she not be when Ruby looked at her like that?

"That was ok, right?" she asked while moving to follow their teammates. Ruby's nod was a relief, as was the hop in her step and her growing smile.

"Of course! I...I mean, I didn't mind at all." Ruby fell silent for several seconds, prompting Weiss to look over only to find that her blush had returned. "I mean…" she added. "Your lips are really soft."

Weiss couldn't think of a response to the compliment, nor did she attempt one. Instead, she trained her gaze on the sidewalk while another rampant blush rushed onto her cheeks.

Hopefully, they wouldn't run into another team leader who thought like Coco. Although...she _did _feel closer to Ruby now than before, so maybe it hadn't been for nothing. Maybe if she could stop blushing - still vividly remembering the feeling of Ruby's cheek on her lips - she would consider it a win.

But she was leaving the rest of this challenge to Yang...


	7. Chapter 7

"That wasn't too bad," Yang remarked as they headed back to the dorms. "We got like what - five keys? That's gotta be a good amount."

Blake's response was a scoff, because she was still _mildly_ disgruntled and annoyed by the affection Yang showed for people who clearly didn't deserve it. In her mind, there probably wasn't a soul living who deserved Yang's affection. Besides her, of course, although the chances of her admitting that were slim to none.

"Even Weiss got to help out."

When Yang winked, Weiss huffed and tried to ignore the spike of excitement such an innocuous comment caused.

"Jealous?" she shot back, hoping to turn the situation on Yang rather than dwell on Ruby any longer.

From the way Yang kept bringing it up, she was disappointed that Coco hadn't given _her _the dare so she had an excuse to kiss Blake. What she didn't realize was that Coco probably assumed the two of them were already making out during their free time, so that wouldn't be much of a dare at all. What she also didn't realize was that by bringing it up, she was making Blake more jealous...

"Yes, too bad you didn't get to kiss Weiss too..." Blake grumbled, proving Weiss' point and then some.

While Weiss tried to think of a way to tell Yang that Blake needed attention (and affection), Yang beat her to the punch. Wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulders, Yang tugged her partner close and didn't let go even though Blake looked not-at-all enthused about the contact.

"Now that that's over, how 'bout you and I hang out?" Yang offered with a sincere smile. "Watch a movie or something? I don't think we have anything else to do today - right, Weiss?"

As soon as Yang turned her way, Weiss shook her head and pretended she hadn't been watching.

"You're right. That's it for today."

Pleased by the response, Yang smiled at Blake. "Whaddya think? Snuggle up and watch a rom-com?"

Anyone looking at Blake right now could watch her struggle against Yang's magnetism. She wanted to be irritated. She wanted to be annoyed that Yang just flirted with half of the team captains at Beacon. Ultimately, she relented and leaned into Yang's side, unable to hold onto the annoyance for long. Of course she couldn't - not when she had Yang's full attention once again.

"That sounds nice."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief at the response, both grateful and reassured that Blake was willing to let it go. Hopefully, this would serve as yet another wake-up call of the emotions she held at bay, as well as a reminder of how detrimental it was to keep everything locked away. What if these jealousy-inducing moments kept popping up and she reacted in a similarly annoyed way? What if she lashed out and said something she didn't mean - all out of jealousy?

"This challenge was fun, right?" Ruby whispered to Weiss, drawing her attention while they walked side-by-side back to their room.

When Weiss' thoughts returned to her one and only job for the challenge, she blushed. Her blush made Ruby blush, which was something of a vicious cycle she hoped to get out of sometime soon.

"It was a nice break," she replied. Her mind, however, refused to let go of the moment her lips touched Ruby's cheek. The warmth and softness and heavenly smell of roses...every aspect of that kiss was burned into her memory. Not that she necessarily minded, but it was a little hard to focus on other matters - like her goal of getting Blake and Yang together - when her thoughts revolved around Ruby.

"It was nice that I didn't have to do much," Ruby admitted.

Weiss' initial reaction was to roll her eyes at the 'lazy' response, but she quickly stopped herself and smiled instead. In her family, any fragment of laziness or perceived laziness was unacceptable. It wasn't until she came to Beacon that she realized the world was more complicated than that, and Ruby was more complicated than that. Maybe she shirked on homework sometimes, and maybe she appreciated the days when she wasn't tasked with anything, but she took on the partner race yesterday without complaint. Not only that, but she practiced whenever Weiss asked her to. She practiced with _anyone_ whenever they asked her to.

So yes, maybe Ruby enjoyed a day off, but maybe she deserved one.

"I'm glad you had fun," Weiss replied before following Blake and Yang into the room. From Blake's smile, Yang had already worn through her attempt at surliness. Which...of course she did. Even though Yang _could_ flirt with anyone, she was best at flirting with Blake. Surely, Blake felt the difference - Yang's flirting energy amplified by a factor of ten whenever directed her way. To those unfortunate souls in attendance, that was equivalent to the difference between glancing at the sun and standing on its surface.

Seriously. Weiss often wished she had a pair of sunglasses capable of blocking their giant smiles and excessive flirting personas.

Blake _had _to feel the difference. At least, that was Weiss' hope as she headed to her desk while Blake and Yang went to their side of the room to pick out a movie.

"Do you need my help with anything?" Ruby asked, following Weiss to the desk and looking very much like a puppy that wanted to go outside and play.

"I'm going to study for a bit." After nodding towards the stack of books on the desk, Weiss smiled and motioned Ruby away. "Don't you have that game to play?"

"I do!" Needing no more permission than that, Ruby raced over to Weiss' bed with her scroll already in hand. Her butt hardly touched the covers, however, before she popped back to her feet, gave a quick "Be right back!", and disappeared into the hall.

Shaking her head at the very characteristic sequence of events, Weiss turned her attention to the desk and pulled over a notebook. With Blake and Yang whispering to each other and Ruby temporarily away, calmness settled over the room. After a somewhat emotionally stressful morning, the return to normal was a relief, especially when Weiss heard Blake giggle at whatever Yang just said.

Yang was the only person in Remnant who could make Blake giggle - Weiss was certain of that. But sure, they were 'just friends.' That made a lot of sense, actually, because 'just friends' typically made people feel emotions that _no one else_ made them feel.

Rolling her eyes - they couldn't see her, so she got away with it - Weiss left them alone in their little lovenest. In the meantime, Ruby's absence made this the perfect opportunity to think of a gift. There were only a few days left until Sunday, after all, and it would take at least a day to have a present shipped to Beacon. Paying for expedited shipping was always an option, but she didn't want to risk it arriving late.

Not that she had any idea what 'it' would be. All she knew was that she needed a gift for Ruby by Sunday, and it needed to be great - because Ruby deserved the best and then some.

The best ideas started with a plan, so Weiss opened her notebook to a blank page and wrote down everything Ruby liked or enjoyed. From cookies (chocolate chip, then snickerdoodle, then sugar) to random weapon parts to television shows and movies. Ruby's interests spanned a wide enough spectrum that almost any gift would be appropriate. And if it was something she'd never heard of before, it would be even more appropriate - because she loved trying out or learning about new things.

Weiss didn't want to say she felt overly confident, but...her competition was a book about Nevermores. (Not that she was _competing_ against Yang for best present, but she certainly wouldn't mind if Ruby categorized this future gift as _one of_ the best gifts she'd ever received.)

After a few minutes of work, the page was covered with likes, hobbies, and interests that could serve as a launching point. From here, Weiss could craft something amazing - she hoped. She had no idea what it would be, but her answer hid somewhere between 'panda stuffed animals' and 'anything red.'

A red panda stuffed animal seemed too simple. But somehow, Weiss knew that Ruby would appreciate the effort of having a custom-designed and hand-sewn stuffed animal created for her.

"Whatcha doing?" Yang asked, drawing Weiss' attention while Blake stood up and stretched. It wasn't immediately clear what disrupted their incessant flirts and giggles - maybe one of them needed water or some pun-free air.

"Trying to think of a gift for Ruby." Even though Weiss knew she didn't have to, she handed the notebook to Blake before being asked. She already knew Blake wanted to see, as evidenced by the curiosity in her eyes.

"Wow." After scanning the first few lines, Blake gave Weiss a look of surprise. "This is...thorough."

"I wasn't sure where to start, so I made a list of her favorite things. From there, I can come up with an idea."

Blake's surprise slowly disappeared, only to be replaced by a smile. "It looks like you know her better than Yang."

That statement caught Yang's attention in a hurry, and she immediately scoffed. "Doubtful."

"Can you list her top five favorite colors in order?" Blake asked, glancing at Weiss' work before smirking at Yang, who looked caught off guard by the question.

"Uh, sure. Red's her favorite, of course."

"That's one. What about the other four?"

After scrunching up her face in thought, Yang shook her head. "Yellow?"

Chuckling at the (wrong) answer, Blake handed the notebook back to Weiss and shook her head. "I think you just lost."

"I didn't lose!" Yang protested while Blake grabbed a bottle of water and returned to her side. The moment Blake snuggled into her shoulder, however, she lost much of her chagrin at the conversation. "I just never asked her about favorite colors," she concluded, although it didn't appear she cared much anymore - not when Blake smiled up at her and offered the water.

Rolling her eyes and turning back to the notebook, Weiss read through her notes and started writing down every gift idea that popped into her head.

Thinking of gifts for Ruby wasn't difficult. The hard part was deciding which one was meaningful enough to give on Christmas day. She deserved something extraordinary - because she was extraordinary - and Weiss wanted to be the one to give it to her.

Most of the ideas were expensive, because those were guaranteed to make an impression based on value alone. Spending a large sum of money seemed more than appropriate to prove just how special Ruby was. There was the small issue of Ruby not wanting Weiss to spend a lot of money on her, but...Weiss would work around that.

"What about this one?" Yang whispered to Blake - the two of them finally picking out a movie while leaning against Blake's pillows. Weiss might as well think of it as 'Blake _and _Yang's bed' from now on since they both spent the same amount of time on it...

"It looks too...dramatic," Blake replied - a subtle way of saying she wasn't looking for drama right now, probably because their day had been filled with too much relationship drama as it was.

Weiss shook her head at the irony while writing 'anti-gravity boots?' on her list. Blake had no issue absorbing all of that Xiao Long energy for herself, but watching it dispensed to others had rankled her more than Weiss expected. Fortunately, all Yang needed to be was herself, and Blake would quickly forget the concentrated dose of flirting she'd witnessed. Mostly because that concentrated flirting had returned to her instead.

"So no drama…" Yang muttered while searching for another option. And Weiss decided to give Yang a nudge in the right direction. Kind of like accidentally bumping a vat of highly reactive chemicals - all she needed was the right phrase to set Yang off.

"Why don't you watch the one with that actress you told me about?" When Weiss turned around, Blake and Yang looked at her as if she just interrupted their private moment (which she couldn't have since this was _her_ room too). "The one you said looks like Blake?" she clarified when Yang didn't immediately catch on.

After another moment of confusion, Yang's eyes lit up, and Blake gave her a curious look.

"What actress?"

"Oh my god, Blake - you have to see her - she's _gorgeous_." While Yang searched for photos, Blake blinked at the roundabout compliment. Of course, Yang wasn't done yet.

"She's one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen," she doubled down before holding up the scroll for Blake to see. "See? She kind of looks like you, right?"

A blush rushed to Blake's cheeks while she looked at the photograph. "I guess..."

"I think so," Yang added before enlarging one of the pictures. "Her hair is gorgeous, like yours. She has that adorable nose. Great body. A smile that makes you want to see more." She pulled the screen closer before glancing at Blake, who was too busy suffering from an immense blush to make eye contact. "She just doesn't have your eyes..." Yang mused. "You have prettier eyes."

"Thank you..." Blake mumbled, and Weiss turned back to her desk with a smile. If that didn't make Blake feel better about their afternoon, nothing would. Besides, that chemical reaction wasn't even done yet…

While Yang found more ways to call Blake the most beautiful person in the world, Weiss returned her focus to her own partner, who was beautiful in her own right.

Yang hadn't noticed yet. Ruby hadn't noticed yet. But Weiss had. She saw the glances Ruby had started receiving. She noticed the way some of the boys stared at her in a flattering yet infuriating way. And she knew that she or Yang would eventually need to step in and do something. Preferably, the two of them could work together in beating the idiots away, forming a vicious and capable tag team that every boy at Beacon should fear.

Ruby was too kind, too gentle, and too pure to risk her heart with some random schmuck. Weiss wouldn't stand for it. Ruby deserved the best. If she decided that pursuing romance was something she wanted to do (doubtful considering her nearly myopic focus on training and food), that person would need Weiss' approval first. And she had very high standards. Possibly higher standards for Ruby than for herself.

Hearing the movie play, Weiss glanced over her shoulder and found Yang and Blake cuddled together in _their _bed. From the look of it, Yang had already earned Blake's forgiveness and was now earning Blake's affection by letting Blake snuggle into her side.

What could possibly be better than snuggling with your crush while watching a movie?

Snuggling with your crush while watching a movie _alone_.

If Weiss wanted or needed to be in the room, she would never consider this option. But she didn't _have_ to be here right now. If some alone time gave Blake and Yang the opportunity to talk about those glaring feelings projecting from them like spotlights, Weiss was all for presenting the opportunity. She only needed to grab Ruby and...

Glancing around the room, she realized Ruby was still missing.

"Do you know where Ruby went?" she asked while the previews played. When both of them shook their heads - although Blake hardly made an effort since she was so burrowed into Yang's neck - Weiss decided to check across the hall.

As soon as she walked out of the room, she noticed that Team JNPR's door was slightly ajar, and she heard Ruby giggling uncontrollably from inside. In addition to Ruby's giggles was a male voice that Weiss assumed was Jaune's.

"Come on," he said while Weiss moved closer, her curiosity and annoyance rising with every step. "Just one more!"

Ruby's response was another giggle, which Weiss simultaneously adored and disliked at this moment. That giggle meant Ruby was particularly happy with something or was particularly enjoying something - with _Jaune_.

"I shouldn't - Weiss will be mad!"

As soon as Weiss heard the words, her annoyance became preemptive anger. There were only so many things Ruby could do with _Jaune_ that would make her mad.

Her thoughts flew back to earlier that afternoon when she kissed Ruby's cheek. And how the boys at Beacon were changing their behaviors towards Ruby. And how, eventually, Ruby might want to see someone romantically. But Jaune Arc? Over Weiss' dead body.

"She doesn't have to know..."

Cheeks flushing in anger, Weiss shoved the door open and stormed into the room saying "Just _what _do you think -"

With her hand still on the door handle, she froze, and confusion replaced her anger. She'd expected to find something that would make her extremely upset. Instead, Jaune and Ruby were sitting on the floor playing a game on their scrolls.

"Weiss!" Regardless of Weiss' rage-fueled entrance, Ruby still grinned upon seeing her.

"What's up, Weiss? Wanna play?" Jaune asked while offering his scroll to her.

"Yeah, cuz I suck," Ruby added before leaning into his side and giggling some more. Their proximity and friendliness made Weiss' skin prickle with dislike.

"Ruby, come here." When she heard how bossy that came out, she took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Ruby, can you come here, please? I need your help with something."

"Oh, sure!" Ruby immediately popped to her feet and hurried over. "Thanks for playing, Jaune! I'll be better next time, I swear."

As soon as Ruby was close enough, Weiss grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out of the room. Only when they were in the hall and JNPR's door was firmly closed did Weiss' heart rate slow and the flush fade from her cheeks.

That had been an unexpected rush of annoyance, but who could blame her? Ruby had far better things to do than fraternize with other team members, especially Jaune. Or any boy, for that matter. And Weiss was positive she had Yang's full support on this.

Which brought her to what she needed Ruby's help with.

"What do you need?" Ruby asked, looking not at all perturbed by what just happened. If anything, she looked happy to be spending time with Weiss again.

Weiss didn't know how Ruby did it, but that smile always made her feel extra content and reassured. It was like...Ruby shared her feelings somehow - that upbeat, giddy energy flowing from her to Weiss whenever Weiss needed it.

Accepting the emotions with a smile, she gestured for Ruby to follow her a little further away from their door. Even though she thought they were out of Blake's earshot, she lowered her voice to nearly a whisper.

"I think Blake and Yang could use some alone time to watch their movie," she explained. "Maybe we can hang out somewhere else?"

"That sounds like fun! Maybe the library?"

"The library?"

"Yeah! To work on our paper."

"_You_ want to do schoolwork?" Weiss replied, raising her brow in surprise.

"Not just _any_ schoolwork - our joint paper." When Ruby added a hop with the response, Weiss laughed and set her hand on Ruby's shoulder to direct them back to the room.

"If I'd known this would help your motivation, I would've asked for our work to be combined long ago."

"I just really love working with you...doesn't matter what it is."

Ruby's reply was so sweet and heartfelt, Weiss' cheeks heated up in response.

"That's…" she started to say, but her voice trailed off when she found herself at a loss for words. How could she explain what it meant to have a partner who liked working with her? Who liked talking to her or even just being around her? After spending her childhood believing she was destined to be alone, how could she explain the relief of finding someone willing to fight by her side?

"Thank you," she whispered, and her gaze fell to the floor to avoid the curious silver gaze aimed her way. Before Ruby could ask what the gratitude was for, Weiss cleared her throat and did what she did best - talked about what they needed to do next.

"Let's grab our notes and head over there," she said while leading Ruby back to the room. She hadn't let go of Ruby's hand yet, but she didn't feel like it - not even when a member of another team gave them a look while passing by.

She wished there was a way to tell _everyone _at Beacon to keep their hands off of Ruby, but she hadn't figured out how to do that. The only answer she had, at the moment, was to be possessive and keep Ruby out of those situations. Which meant she might need to spend more time with Ruby and Jaune. Or Ruby and Sun. Or Ruby and...basically, Ruby and anyone else. Weiss might even include Blake in that group if Blake wasn't already hopelessly devoted to Yang.

That hopeless devotion was on full display when Weiss and Ruby walked into the room - in the form of Blake cuddling into Yang's side while 'casually' holding Yang closer with one arm. Really, they couldn't get much closer if they glued themselves together. Although, that probably wouldn't stop them from trying.

"We're going to the library!" Ruby announced in the midst of their movie, prompting Yang to pause and look more than a little disappointed when Blake retreated to a 'friendly' distance. Although Blake's version of 'friendly' was still...intimate. Did she share the same personal bubble with all of her friends or just the ones she harbored all-encompassing crushes for? (Rhetorical question - Weiss had watched Blake _literally _push friends out of her space before. Repeatedly.)

"Sounds good," Yang replied with a smile. "Have fun!"

From Yang's smile, this was the best news she'd heard all day. And Blake...well, Blake was a closed book, as usual, but her ears gave a little flick that Weiss would interpret as happiness.

It seemed her idea to give the two some privacy was well-received. Now they could bask in each other's company without their two pesky roommates around to make Blake self-conscious. What could she ever have to be self-conscious about when she was only being 'friendly?'

Stifling an eye roll, Weiss grabbed the books and notebooks she needed and stuffed them into her bag. Once done, she watched Ruby find her books, then find an appropriate number of snacks to last however long they would work for. From the amount of food she shoved into her bag, they would be in the library for...approximately three weeks.

"Ready?" Weiss asked when Ruby rushed over and gave a thumbs up. Satisfied that they were prepared for an evening away from the room, she gave their teammates one last look - and one last nudge.

"Don't have too much fun without us."

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she tried not to smirk when Yang's eyes widened and Blake looked at the wall. The response only made her amusement grow while she led Ruby towards the library.

The likelihood of them making any progress seemed slim to none, but Weiss could dream. Maybe Blake would take a page out of one of her books and use the opportunity to profess her love in more physical ways.

Weiss scoffed at the idea, which drew Ruby's gaze her way.

"What?" Ruby asked with a smile.

"Nothing, it's just..." Weiss couldn't tell Ruby the thought she just had - for a variety of reasons that included maintaining Ruby's innocence - so she came up with something else in a hurry. "I just think it's funny how much time Blake and Yang spend together, yet they never get tired of each other."

"Oh." Ruby's brow furrowed while she pondered that thought, then she turned back to Weiss with a big smile. "I never get tired of you either!"

Weiss hadn't been fishing for that answer, but now that she had it...she'd probably never felt more special.

"Same to you," she admitted, and Ruby's smile grew.

Spending so much time with one person seemed like a recipe for disaster. At least, that's what she thought before coming to Beacon. The idea of being paired with another person for four years only seemed manageable if she had the most experienced, most dedicated, second-most intelligent partner in the school.

The person she ended up with was the best partner for her, and the best fighter in the school - she would fight anyone who dared argue that fact.

When they reached the library, Ruby raced forward and opened the door for Weiss, who smiled while walking inside. Seeing as how it was still winter break, there weren't many students using the library at this time. Just as well - the lack of activity meant plenty of tables to choose from and less demand that they work as quietly as possible.

"Ok," Weiss said while picking a table and unpacking her bag. "Since we finished the outline, we can start finding sources and quotes. We should be able to do that and write at least two pages today."

"I'm in charge of finding sources, right?"

Weiss had expected the response and smiled across the table at Ruby.

"Yes, you can be in charge of finding sources," she replied, her smile growing when Ruby did a cute little fist pump of success.

"Best partners ever!"

Even though Weiss' heart was already beating happily, those words added to the warmth and joy filling her chest. It seemed silly, but she loved it when Ruby said that. And she couldn't agree more.

"Alright," she said, determined to focus on work rather than how grateful she was for her partner. One of her notebooks contained their outline, which she flipped to before setting it where both of them could see. Another notebook had the beginning of her rough draft, which she was in the midst of finding when Ruby reached across the table and set a hand on her arm. The touch drew her full attention, and she stared at Ruby's hand for several seconds before meeting Ruby's gaze.

"Before we start…" As soon as Weiss spotted the red on Ruby's cheeks, she blushed and could only imagine the topic to come. "About today..." Ruby added, and Weiss' cheeks grew considerably warmer. "Coco's challenge," she elaborated, as if Weiss didn't remember - but how could she have forgotten?

"I was just wondering if, like...we need to talk about it?"

"Talk about it?" Hearing the nervous laugh that slipped out, Weiss silently chastised herself and tried to compose a response. "Why would we need to talk about it?"

Ruby seemed just as embarrassed as Weiss felt, and looked at her hands rather than make eye contact. "I dunno, I just wanted to make sure it was ok."

In a single sentence, Ruby sent Weiss' mind racing with worry. Had it not been ok? Did she not like it? She said it was ok, but maybe she hadn't _actually _wanted Weiss to kiss her and thought Weiss would understand without her saying it out loud.

"I'm sorry," Weiss apologized even though not exactly sure what she was apologizing for. "Was it not ok?"

"No, no - that's not what I meant!" Ruby was quick to wave her hands. "It was fine! More than fine."

"Oh. Then...did you not like it?" That thought threatened to crush Weiss' spirit, but Ruby waved her hands even more emphatically.

"That's not it at all. I just wanted to make sure that...you didn't feel like you _had _to, you know? We could've just walked away - I would've been ok with that. Even with the challenge and everything...I don't want you to do something you don't want to do."

"Oh." Glancing at her notebook, Weiss sorted through her thoughts and searched for a response. Thankfully, she hadn't overstepped her bounds or made Ruby uncomfortable. Actually, the fact that Ruby checked in afterward showed remarkable maturity. But she hadn't answered Weiss' question...

"Did you not like it?" Weiss asked again. For some reason, the answer seemed important. It was just a kiss on the cheek, but if she couldn't do _that_ correctly...or in a way that Ruby enjoyed…

Fortunately, Ruby giggled and shook her head.

"It was really nice!" she admitted before her cheeks flushed and she started to stammer. "I-I mean, I didn't _not_ like it. And like...wouldn't mind if you did it again or anything. If you ever felt like it or something."

"I'm - sorry, what?"

It felt an awful lot like Ruby was giving Weiss permission to kiss her again. To kiss her cheek again. Because any other type of kiss would just be...would need a different type of permission.

"Yeah! I mean, why not?" Ruby's nervous laugh highlighted how uncomfortable this topic was becoming for them both, and Weiss felt her embarrassment rising right along with Ruby's. "I guess if it's weird or something -"

"I don't think it's weird," Weiss cut in, only to wish she'd remained silent when Ruby gave her a look - a look she didn't quite know what to do with.

"You don't?"

"Some people give cheek kisses all the time," Weiss elaborated. "It's...a form of endearment."

"Yeah! Like that! Only like - no, yeah, like that."

For several seconds, the two of them stared at each other - both trying to figure out where to go with that conversation. Weiss grasped that she now had permission to kiss Ruby's cheek...whenever, it sounded like, but _could she_ without spontaneously bursting into flames?

Maybe she should try and find out.

The instant she considered it, however, her cheeks reddened and she leaned back in her seat.

"Right - the paper!" Ruby exclaimed. "I am so excited about this paper," she muttered while flipping through the pages of her notebook, suddenly determined to write something.

Weiss was equally determined to put that conversation behind them (until she had time to fully dwell on it) but found her attention diverted when Jaune rushed into the library. He spotted Ruby and hurried over, which only sparked her annoyance back to life. She didn't even know what he wanted, but he'd already overstayed his welcome as far as she was concerned. _Especially_ after the incident from before. Even though it had been far more innocent than she'd assumed, she still wasn't happy about it.

"Hey guys," he said while dropping into the chair next to Ruby. After flashing Weiss a smile - and somehow not understanding her glare - he turned towards Ruby. "I had a great idea."

"How did you know we were here?" Weiss butted in.

"I asked Blake and Yang," he replied as if that should've been obvious.

When he turned back to Ruby, however, Weiss sighed. Knowing him, he barged in and scared the two hopeless romantics apart. Knowing Blake, she wouldn't relax for the rest of the night while worrying about someone bursting through the door to find her and Yang cuddling - _or more_ \- together. Thanks, Boy Wonder.

"But I had an awesome idea," he repeated, and Ruby lit up at the mention of an 'awesome' anything. "Well, Ren said it first," he continued. "But I'm the one who brought it up _and_ came up with the idea -"

"What is it, Jaune," Weiss interrupted, knowing they could sit here forever otherwise.

"A tournament!" he replied with a big smile.

"What...kind of tournament?" she asked, but he turned back to Ruby, which only annoyed her further.

Couldn't he keep his eyes off of Ruby for five seconds?

"Get this - a Grimm Bashers tournament."

Ruby's eyes widened while Weiss repeated the name and tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about. It was bad enough he interrupted her and Ruby's study time, but to do so only to spout nonsense?

"Once classes start up, we should set up a tournament!" he continued. "We can have matches every Friday night or weekend, create brackets, come up with prizes -"

"That sounds _awesome!_" Ruby exclaimed. Because, of course she thought it was awesome.

"Yeah? Perfect - because I need you to be my partner."

Weiss clenched her jaw at the statement, but Ruby nodded. _Agreeing _to be _Jaune's_ partner.

"We're _so _winning," she replied, but Weiss cleared her throat to draw their attention.

"Excuse me." She tried to be polite, but she was more annoyed than she'd been in quite some time. "But what exactly are you stealing _my _partner for?" She sent Jaune another glare with that accusation, and he finally cringed.

"Grimm Bashers!" Ruby explained. "That game we've been playing."

"And what if I wanted to play?"

"But...you never want to play..."

Ruby's hesitancy said she realized that Weiss was upset but didn't understand why yet. Weiss hardly understood why she was upset, but Jaune saying that Ruby would be 'his' partner didn't sit well with her.

"I haven't in the past," she snapped before giving Jaune another look. "But that doesn't mean I couldn't."

She was familiar with the game, and didn't particularly enjoy it. What she enjoyed even less, however, was the thought of Jaune and Ruby spending all of their free time together under the pretense of 'practicing.' That sounded an awful lot like an underhanded way to steal private time with Ruby, and she wouldn't tolerate that.

"If you want to play, then of course we'll be partners!" Ruby smiled at Weiss, seeking out her gaze before finally turning to Jaune. "Sorry, Jaune, but Weiss always comes first."

While Jaune sighed, Weiss felt like one of the most valued people alive - but also horrible for barging in on something she didn't actually want to participate in.

"It's fine," Jaune replied with slumped shoulders. "I should've known you'd already be spoken for."

"I have a better idea," Weiss cut in before the conversation ended. Now that Ruby put Jaune in his place, which he easily accepted, she felt much more hospitable to the idea of them competing. "Why don't you two play, and I'll be team captain."

Ruby beamed at the suggestion, and Jaune considered it for a few seconds before nodding. "That could work..."

"You realize we _have_ to win now," Ruby teased. "Or she'll be mad. And we don't want to make Weiss mad."

"I'll start practicing right now!" After shooting to his feet, Jaune smiled and headed out with a "see you guys!"

"Are you sure you're ok with that?" Ruby asked while he left.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" Now that Weiss was team captain, she had an excuse to supervise their time together. If Jaune had any ulterior motives for putting himself on a team with Ruby, she would handle it immediately.

"Because you called it a 'dumb game that feels joy in cheating its players.'"

"Well -" Pausing for a moment, Weiss quickly thought of an excuse for that (accurate) description. "That's how I feel about it, but that doesn't mean I won't help you win a tournament."

Ruby's smile proved her decision to join more correct.

"We'll totally win!" Ruby proclaimed, raising her hand for a high five that Weiss willingly gave. "And this is great because you can help us come up with strategies!"

Weiss _did_ enjoy strategizing...even if it was for some child's game.

"But first," she said before Ruby carried on that train of thought. "Let's get more of this paper done."

"Right." Ruby agreed to their course of action with a nod, but her smile alone made Weiss feel like she'd done something extra good today. "Maybe we can get dinner before heading back to the room and then strategize?"

Of the many things Ruby had done to impress Weiss recently, it was learning how to refocus and set a future time to discuss her distractions.

"That sounds like a great idea," Weiss replied with a smile. If she and Ruby stayed away from the room a little longer, maybe Blake and Yang would watch another movie. Or confess their love to each other.

"Yeah?"

"Of course, Ruby."

"I like when just the two of us get dinner together," Ruby added while pulling over her book and flipping to the right chapter.

"I do too."

When Ruby finally got to work, Weiss' heart filled with pride for the person Ruby was growing to be. She liked to think she played a small role in Ruby's maturation, but realistically, Ruby was a better influence on her than the other way around.

"We can do that more often if you want." When Ruby looked up and caught her gaze, Weiss smiled. "Get lunch or dinner by ourselves," she clarified.

"Really? I'd love to!"

Weiss' heart warmed at the response, at Ruby's uninhibited smile, and at the thought of spending more time together. Really, there wasn't anything she liked more than spending time with Ruby. Plus, she knew two people who would also love the increase in alone time.

Now, if only Blake and Yang would _do_ something with that alone time.

With Wednesday drawing to a close and still no movement on that front, Weiss might need to resort to riskier tactics in order to complete her quest in time. Honestly though...in three days, _she_ made it further with _Ruby_ than Yang had with Blake.

The memory immediately made her blush.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning followed their typical routine.

Nothing was different - literally, nothing. Because, even though Weiss was tripping over herself to get Blake and Yang some quality time together, they continued to avoid the increasingly obvious attraction between them.

How was it even possible to spend _hours_ cuddling with someone and not let something slip? Something like 'this is nice' or 'I love spending time with you' or 'Yang, I have so many romantic feelings towards you, I don't know what to do with them other than pretend they don't exist but they _do_ so can you please kiss me?'

Apparently, that was too much to ask.

So Thursday started normally, much to Weiss' disbelief. She woke up first, followed by Ruby, Yang, and Blake (who ceded her turn in the bathroom to Yang because she was more comfortable ogling Yang's unclothed back than discussing emotions). The four of them then grabbed a quick breakfast before returning to the room to await their next challenge. At least, Blake and Weiss returned to the room.

"I can't believe they still help out," she commented while sitting down to work on her and Ruby's joint paper.

"They really like it, I guess."

As Blake went over to her bed to read (most likely counting the minutes until she and Yang were together again), Weiss shrugged and grabbed her notebook to start working.

Several months ago, Yang and Ruby got into a bit of trouble - Yang's fault, of course, and she always dragged Ruby into those horribly ill-thought-out pranks of hers. After they were caught, because they _always_ got caught, their punishment was helping the cafeteria workers prepare lunch and dinner for a week.

Some punishment. They had such a good time, they still helped out at least once a week on their own volition. Secretly, Weiss thought it was a ploy to get on the lunch ladies' good sides (she saw the portions Ruby and Yang received, and they were _much_ bigger than anyone else's). But Ruby and Yang also loved helping when they were needed, so such nefarious reasons were hard to fully believe.

Weiss kind of wanted to help too, but she worried that the lunch ladies might not want her help. Or she would be horrible at it. It wasn't like she'd cooked anything before...

Maybe next time, she decided while opening her notebook and getting to work. While she did that, Blake grabbed a book from the nightstand and picked up wherever she left off.

The two of them got along better than Weiss would've imagined, especially after their first meeting. While closed off and difficult to get to know, Blake had warmed up over time, and Weiss now counted her to be a close friend. They talked about books together, or commiserated over their partners (although Blake had done a lot more _gushing _over her partner recently…).

Besides, Blake was so quiet that Weiss often forgot anyone was in the room with her - the perfect environment for deep thinking.

Last night's trip to the library hadn't been completely fruitless. Yang and Blake might have accomplished nothing, but Ruby and Weiss made solid progress on their paper. Weiss didn't know where Ruby's recent focus had come from, but she wouldn't complain. Somehow, the two of them worked together in a perfect harmony of relaxed concentration.

It was an oxymoron, but they made it work. Ruby focused for short bursts of time before capturing Weiss' attention for a related or completely unrelated tangent. Sometimes, however, those tangents led to great results for their work.

Weiss was actually excited about the end result because this paper was more unique and inventive than anything she'd written in a long time. She had Ruby to thank for that, which she planned to do once they finished.

A soft sigh dragged her thoughts away from Ruby, however, and she turned around to find Blake staring at her book. When Blake said nothing and continued reading, Weiss went back to work. But a few minutes later, she heard yet another sigh.

"Is everything ok?" she finally asked.

"Yeah, why?" When Blake gave a look implying that was a strange question to ask - ironic, considering people _normally_ sighed for no reason - Weiss shook her head.

"Nothing…"

In many ways, Blake was more difficult to talk to than Yang or Ruby. The sisters were used to speaking about their emotions - to being _effusive_ about their emotions - but Blake was a closed book in basically every situation.

"But if you ever want someone to talk to…" Weiss offered while turning around. She made sure to turn _extra_ slowly - because if Blake accepted the offer, it would be at the last second - like when Weiss picked up her pen to resume writing.

"Wait -"

_Thank Grimm_, Weiss thought while turning back only to find a much more uncomfortable Blake sitting across from her. The uncertain expression made her wonder if this conversation would be what she never knew she'd hoped for - the opportunity to give Blake a gentle, friendly push into the arms of her oh-so-willing partner.

"What's up?" Weiss asked after several seconds of silence passed. She wished she could read Blake's mind. Otherwise, this conversation might be like pulling teeth from a very unwilling patient.

"Do you ever find it...hard..." Blake began in slow, carefully chosen words. "To be partners with Ruby?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like...you're not _good_ enough to be partners with her?"

On instinct, Weiss scoffed at the question.

"Of course not. I'm perfectly capable of being Ruby's partner." As soon as the words slipped out, she scolded herself and shook her head. She knew what Blake meant - Ruby was destructive in ways she could only dream of. But still...she had some pride. Pride wouldn't work with Blake though.

"I do…" she admitted with a sigh. "Her skill and output will always be beyond my reach, no matter how hard I try. But whenever I start thinking that way, I focus on what I can add to our team instead. Strategy, support, range, those types of things."

After considering the answer for a few moments, Blake nodded and nearly left it at that. But she didn't - she had more to say.

"It's just that...Yang's such a good fighter. And everyone loves her…"

Apparently, Weiss had to do _everything _for these two.

"But Yang thinks you're amazing."

Blake looked up and, from her expression, hardly believed the words.

"Really?"

"_Yes,_ really," Weiss replied. "She thinks you're as smart as me and as good at strategizing as Ruby."

"Definitely not as smart as you."

"Well _I_ wasn't going to say that," she teased, getting Blake to crack a smile. Considering Blake saved nearly all of her smiles for Yang, she was flattered by the display of emotion. She then watched Blake mull over the conversation before coming to a conclusion.

"Then...Yang doesn't mind me as her partner."

"Please," Weiss dismissed the concern like she was being offered day-old bread. "She _loves _being your partner. Can you imagine her without you? She'd run into every fight head on. You keep her grounded and safe - she understands that."

Imagining Yang with a partner other than Blake was a little frightening. She was still learning self-control, but it was nothing to wager on. With Blake, however...she actively sought to impress upon her partner that she _was_ capable of staying her fist. So, even though Cardin had mocked Yang for being Blake's 'handler' (something he would never do again), it was actually the other way around. Yang was the tiger - Blake was the one who mysteriously understood how to control her.

"I just worry sometimes…" Blake mumbled, but Weiss gave her a reassuring look.

"Yang _really_ likes you. If you're ever unsure about that, just think about the way she lights up whenever she sees you." Pausing for a second, Weiss decided to take the comment a step further. "She definitely doesn't do that with anyone else. Only you."

She wanted to add 'because she likes you too' but felt that might be a little too forward. Plus, she didn't have time to say anything else when the door opened and the other half of their team returned.

The instant she heard a sniffle and saw Ruby rub at teary eyes, her concern shot through the roof.

"Ruby!" she cried out, rushing over and taking both of Ruby's hands in her own. "Are you ok? What happened?" While she searched for signs of injury, Ruby sniffed again and rubbed the tears out of her eyes.

"I'm ok," she sniffled - the sound filling Weiss with anguish. "It's just...the onions…"

Onions? Onions made Ruby…

Oh.

"She was bawling the entire time," Yang teased while sitting down and wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulders. She missed Blake's hidden smile, but that was ok. Weiss still saw it - along with the way Blake moved closer to Yang and looked up at her with happiness.

They were so darn cute together. If only they would look in a mirror and see it...

"But we got this," Yang added while pulling an envelope out of her pocket and handing it to Blake. Curious, Blake tore it open and pulled a card from inside.

"'Twelve o'clock - the forest,'" she read aloud before looking at the time. "That's right now. How long have you had this?"

"Couple hours. Someone slipped it in my pocket while we were in the kitchen."

"And you didn't think to open it before now?" Finally letting go of Ruby's hands, Weiss hastily searched for a coat so they could leave.

"But I...know that Blake likes to open letters…" was Yang's response, which couldn't have been more endearing if she tried. Blake's consternation disappeared in a heartbeat, but Weiss rolled her eyes while stalking towards the door.

"Come on - we can't be late."

The rest of her team hurried after her, but it was Ruby who fell into step with her while they jogged towards the edge of the forest.

"Sorry, Weiss, I kinda told her it was ok to wait…"

Hearing the remorse in Ruby's tone, Weiss sighed and lost any feeling of annoyance. It was really hard to be annoyed with Ruby sometimes...

"Don't worry. I'm not upset - I just...don't want to be late."

"And we won't be!" Cheered up from Weiss' small reassurance, Ruby skipped forward and pointed in front of them. "Look!"

Standing at the edge of the forest were their fellow competitors along with Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin. Fortunately, they weren't late - they were last. Weiss didn't enjoy being last either…

"Now that everyone's here," Professor Ozpin said as soon as they were within earshot. She cringed at the look he gave them, which seemed equal parts amused and curious about their late arrival. "Let's begin the next challenge."

The other teams mumbled various degrees of excitement at the statement - from Team SSSN's 'at least we have something to do' excitement to Team CRDL's 'maybe we'll actually win something' anxiousness to Nora's...slightly scary enthusiasm.

Weiss, on the other hand, was looking forward to getting this challenge underway so she could stop dwelling on their late arrival. They all knew Blake liked opening envelopes, but did that really mean Yang had to wait hours to open that particular envelope? Surely, she knew what it was - or was she that blinded by her feelings?

"You'll find keys hidden throughout the forest," Professor Goodwitch explained, holding up a small, silver key for reference. "Most are silver, but there are several gold keys worth ten of the silvers. You have three hours to find as many as possible before returning here. You must return within the three-hour limit, or will be disqualified." After stepping aside, she motioned them forward. "May the most observant team win."

Nora wasted no time tearing into the forest at full speed, with Ren following close behind. CRDL charged after them but quickly split to the left and forged their own path - through the thickest portion of the woods, because they were idiots. And SSSN strolled into the trees with the haste of a group of boys with nowhere better to be.

"This is cool," Ruby announced while the four of them summoned their weapons and waited for the lockers to arrive. "Kinda like when we became partners!"

While Yang and Blake shared warm smiles at the memory, Weiss gave Ruby an apologetic glance. The day they became partners wasn't one of her finest moments...

"Only it will be better now that we _are _partners," she added, grabbing Myrtenaster before reaching over and tapping Ruby's arm. Beaming at the response, Ruby swung Crescent Rose over her shoulder and gave an adorable little hop.

"You're right - this is even better!" After checking to make sure they were all armed and ready, Ruby nodded and led them into the trees at a moderate pace.

The competitor in Weiss wanted to race forward and grab as many keys as possible, but she held that side in check and stayed near her teammates. This challenge, if she looked at it in the grander scheme of things, could be a nice stroll through the beautifully-frosty woods for the more romantically-inclined members of their team.

"What do you think?" Yang asked as they left Beacon behind. "Split up? Increase our chances of spotting these things?"

Ah, Yang...such an unintentional genius.

"That's a great idea," Weiss replied before anyone voted against it. Not that Blake or Ruby would, but just in case. "Why don't you and Blake search the valley while Ruby and I take the overlook? That way we're still close if anyone needs help."

"Sounds good?" Yang asked Blake, who nodded before setting off towards the valley.

"Set your watches!" Weiss reminded them while they walked off, and Yang waved that she understood before reaching down to hold Blake's hand. They wouldn't want to get lost or separated, after all.

Satisfied that they would make it back on time, Weiss motioned Ruby towards the path leading up a ridge in the forest. Blake and Yang's path took them further to the right, where the forest floor gently sloped down to a valley further in.

"Damn, found one!" Yang called out from not too far away, pointing towards a tall tree while Blake swiftly ascended the branches and grabbed the silver key hanging from one of the leaves. As soon as Blake dropped back to the forest floor, Yang gave her a high five and they continued walking.

"We can't let them find more than us," Weiss mused while turning away and doubling her search. Her eyes flitted across every possible location for one of those shiny silver keys while her competitive side reared its head. Ruby's giggle slowed her down, however, and reminded her that she wasn't the only one searching for keys in the wilderness.

"So we're competing against Yang and Blake too," Ruby summarized beautifully. Weiss couldn't have said it better herself, mostly because whenever she said something like that, it came out demanding and selfish. Ruby, however, gave the comment with a cheerfulness that made it seem like a fun game instead of a constant competition to prove one's worth.

Weiss preferred the way Ruby said it...

"Look!" Ruby suddenly shouted. The unexpected sound made Weiss jump before turning in the direction Ruby pointed in. And there, fitted in the grooves of bark in a tree's trunk, was a silver key.

"Good eye," Weiss said while Ruby retrieved the key and stuck it in one of her pockets.

"This should be easy!" Ruby replied before leading them onward.

Spotting the keys might be easy since the flashes of silver looked unnatural amongst the browns and greens of the forest, but their terrain was anything but a walk in the park. Weiss chose this path for a reason, and it wasn't to prove she could match Ruby's stamina stride-for-stride (she couldn't). Reaching the overlook meant climbing steep terrain littered with jagged rocks and thorny bushes while trying not to slip and fall. When the ground eventually leveled out, however, her reason for choosing this over the easier option became clear.

The overlook was exactly what it sounded like - a cliff overlooking the forest below. In this case, overlooking the _valley_ below, where she caught glimpses of Yang's yellow hair moving through gaps in the trees. Blake was nearly invisible amongst the branches, of course, but Yang stuck out like a sore thumb.

The perfect vantage point for a little spying.

"Oh! Another one!" Ruby exclaimed before buzzing over and jumping for the key hanging from a branch above her. When her outstretched hand failed to pull down the prize, she turned to Weiss, who gave her a boost with a small glyph.

As usual, Ruby giggled while being propelled into the air, like she always did when Weiss used a glyph to help her reach new heights.

Of all the students at Beacon, Weiss was the only one with a semblance that Ruby considered as fun as a game. She initially fought the insinuation that her glyphs were to be played with - they were a tool meant to make her a better huntress, nothing more - but she eventually came around to Ruby's point of view. They made her a better huntress, but that didn't mean she could _only_ use them for serious purposes...

"If you really wanna win, I could - you know -" When Ruby made a flying motion with one hand, Weiss shook her head.

"The last thing we need is you stumbling into a nest of Grimm on the other side of the forest," she replied while moving closer to Ruby's side. "We're sticking together."

"But I would do it for you, if you really want to win."

Though appreciative of the offer, Weiss didn't want to win badly enough to put Ruby at risk. Fending off Grimm to win a simulation room for the rest of the year? The trade-off was too steep for her to even consider it.

"I'd rather we keep searching this way." She motioned to their leisurely stroll before sneaking another glance over the edge of the cliff to check on their teammates below. "Besides, we've already collected several." As she said that, she spotted another key tucked underneath a bush and used a glyph to send it her way.

"You're pretty good at that," Ruby replied, then giggled when Weiss found yet another key dangling from a nearby branch. "Ok, I can't let you beat me like this! I'm calling in my _secret weapon_."

"A metal detector?" Weiss joked while Ruby leapt ahead of her.

"Nope! I'll use my _silver _eyes to find the _silver _keys!"

When Ruby covered her eyes with both hands and made 'beeping' sounds while scanning the trees, Weiss laughed and shook her head.

"You're such a dolt sometimes."

She meant the word in the most affectionate way possible. Ruby could be goofy, childish, or just plain silly, but those traits were actually quite endearing. At least, she found them endearing now that she wasn't taking everything so seriously.

By coming to Beacon, they'd signed up for dangerous lives and rigorous schoolwork, but that didn't mean they had to be drop-dead serious all the time. If anything, that meant they _needed_ moments of levity every once in a while - she understood that better now than she ever had before.

"But you still love me," Ruby slipped in between several more 'beep' sounds. Weiss' heart jumped in agreement with the word, but she hadn't yet found the courage to say it out loud. She certainly couldn't say it with the nonchalance Ruby and Yang used.

"Oh!" The beeping sounds finally stopped, and Ruby raced over to a tree trunk before pointing straight up. "It works - see?"

Sure enough, a key hung amongst the leaves on a branch near the top of the tree, some hundred feet above them.

"I'll get it," she added before racing to the trunk and pulling herself onto the lowest branch. After checking that it held her weight, she grabbed the next branch and pulled herself higher. Quickly realizing what she intended to do, Weiss rushed over to stop her.

"Ruby," she called out, hearing an edge of worry in her tone. "What are you doing? Get down here."

"I'm getting the key!" Moving up another branch, Ruby paused and grinned down at her. "Don't worry - I've seen Blake do this all the time."

"In no way does that mean you're capable of it yourself!" Weiss pointed out. "If you fall, I'm going to be mad!" she added when Ruby didn't stop climbing.

"How mad?"

"Very mad!"

"Even if I get hurt?" Ruby looked down at the same time her foot slipped on one of the branches, and Weiss' heart leapt into her throat.

If Ruby got hurt in any way, shape, or form, Weiss would be distraught. She would find whatever or whoever caused the injury and remove it or them from the face of Remnant. Then she would spend any amount of money making sure Ruby made a full recovery. And she would spoil Ruby rotten, but that was beside the point.

"I have glyphs for a reason!" she complained, but Ruby was already crawling out onto the branch with the key attached.

"But sometimes...we've gotta do things the hard way."

That answer made no sense, and Weiss briefly considered using her glyphs to steal the key for herself. But she didn't want to accidentally scare Ruby and cause her to fall. Instead, she watched on bated breath and mentally prepared to help if Ruby needed her.

Meanwhile, Ruby crept further out onto the branch, which bent under the additional weight. It dipped lower and lower with every inch she moved, and Weiss expected it to snap at any second.

"Ruby…"

"Got it!" Ruby called out after lunging forward to snatch the key. In that same motion, she rolled right off the branch and plummeted to the forest floor below.

Weiss immediately put a glyph in place to catch her partner, but Ruby easily corrected her tumble midair and righted herself before even reaching it. The glyph still lowered her to the ground at a nice, slow pace, and she beamed as soon as her feet touched down.

With her heart still lodged in her throat, Weiss wasn't in the mood for such joviality.

"You need to be careful," she snapped before walking away. "If you get hurt, I won't have a partner. And if I don't have a partner, I won't have anyone to train with."

More than that, she would worry about Ruby constantly, and that would affect her grades.

"I'm sorry!" Ruby apologized while hurrying to keep up. "I'll try to be more careful sometimes!" When Weiss scoffed at the response, she added, "Ok, all the time! I'll be more careful all the time!"

Somewhat reassured by the answer, Weiss caught only a glimpse of Ruby's 'please forgive me' look before huffing and turning away.

"Good," was all she said, but Ruby knew she was forgiven - that's why the hop returned to her step as they continued through the forest.

"I'd be really bummed if you got hurt, too."

Just like that, Weiss felt almost overwhelmingly better. She'd noticed that Ruby had this effect on her more and more often - making her heart swell with good cheer while her mind rejoiced in the feeling of being treasured. Ruby made her happy. Plain and simple.

She didn't have the courage to admit that out loud yet, but she hummed her agreement while moving closer to the edge of the overlook. Now that some time had passed, she wanted to check on their teammates - for safety's sake. But also to see if a lovely stroll through the forest was doing _anything_ for them. Most likely not. Not unless they stumbled into a grove of mistletoe, and knew what mistletoe looked like.

Personally, she couldn't think of anything more conducive to acting on their emotions than taking a nice, private walk while passively searching for keys. Well, it could be a little more private without Ruby and her at the perfect location to spy, but nothing was perfect.

When Ruby ran off to check for another key, Weiss crept closer to the ledge and easily spotted Yang and Blake below. They were talking about something, and Yang was smiling - but she was always smiling when she had Blake's sole attention.

Her smile gradually disappeared, however, to be replaced by a more serious expression. She took a step closer, and Weiss' eyes widened at the moment that was upon them.

Their feet were touching - Blake letting Yang into her personal space - and Yang took one of Blake's hands in her own. Their fingers intertwined easily - effortlessly - and Yang said something - if only Weiss could hear what it was, but her ears didn't work from this distance. But then Yang leaned in - Blake tilted her chin up, closed her eyes -

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted while crashing through the woods. "You'll never believe where I found this one!"

Weiss couldn't hear from this distance, but Blake certainly could. Jolting away from Yang, she turned and immediately pinpointed them up on the ledge. Completely busted in the midst of spying, Weiss waved in what she hoped looked like nonchalance. Blake said something to Yang then, and Yang looked up and found them too.

"Oh, there's Blake and Yang!" Ruby said before waving. "Hey guys! I found one!"

When Ruby held up the treasure, Yang gave a thumbs up. She then looked at Blake, but Blake was busy staring at Weiss. From the level gaze, she knew that Weiss had been watching. And she knew what Weiss nearly witnessed.

What Weiss was _seconds_ from witnessing. If Ruby interrupted three seconds later...

Too late to fix that now. Instead, she gave her teammates another quick wave before walking away from the ledge with Ruby in tow.

"Good job, Ruby," she added when she noticed that Ruby looked a little put out by the lack of praise. "You might have a second career in the making."

"Random key in the forest finder?" Ruby replied before giggling, and Weiss smiled while grabbing another key from underneath a bush. Her thoughts, however, remained on Yang and Blake.

They were _that _close. Literally on the cusp of becoming something more. Not even on the cusp - on the very edge of that cusp, with a strong wind blowing them towards each other. All they needed was that last nudge and a few more minutes of privacy...which Weiss was positive she could find them, somehow.

But she was running out of time. It was already Thursday, and so far she'd only managed an almost kiss and lots of flirting. Regardless, she made it further with Ruby in the last few days than Yang made it with Blake, which was…

She wasn't part of this competition. This wasn't even a competition. It was a personal goal, and she needed Blake and Yang to take that last step or risk failing. And failing wasn't something she took lightly.

The beeping of an alarm broke her from her thoughts, and she glanced over while Ruby silenced her watch.

"Time to get out of here," Ruby said before returning to the ledge. After a few seconds of searching, she waved down to Yang and Blake before motioning out of the forest. One of them must have motioned back, because she gave a thumbs up and smiled.

"Let's see how we did!"

Fortunately, the trek out of the forest was downhill. After joining Blake and Yang near the point where they'd separated earlier (and Weiss received a searching gaze from Blake), the four of them headed out of the forest together.

Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin waited for them on the edge of Beacon's grounds, but the other teams were nowhere to be found. Worried that they missed the three-hour cutoff, Weiss rechecked the time but found they were still well within that window. Were they the first ones back?

"Team RWBY," Professor Ozpin greeted them with a small smile. "You missed Team SSSN, who found fifteen keys." He gestured towards a small mound of keys on the ground before motioning to another. "And Team CRDL, who found twenty-two - how many did you find?"

Figuring that the boys gave up their search early in favor of going home, Weiss rolled her eyes and pulled the keys from her pockets while her teammates did the same. Each of them then counted their haul before looking up.

"Five," Yang said before grinning at Blake. "Plus Blake's nineteen."

"Nineteen?" Looking over, Weiss found that Blake had dropped a small mountain of keys on the ground. "How did you find so many?"

"I'm observant," Blake replied with a shrug.

"Weiss and I found twelve!" Ruby cut in, completely unperturbed that _one _member of their team beat the rest of them combined. "So that's, um..."

Before Ruby tried to do the math, which would probably involve counting on her fingers and embarrassing everyone in her immediate proximity (which was almost always Weiss), Weiss said "Thirty-six."

"Well done," Professor Ozpin replied with a nod. "That puts you in the lead, as of now, but we're still waiting for..."

A series of loud crashes reached their ears at that moment, sounding very much like something big, possibly something ferocious, headed their way. Weiss tensed and lowered her hand towards Myrtenaster, only to relax when she heard a familiar laugh rising above the trees.

A few seconds later, Nora flew out of the forest with Ren right on her heels. Whatever just happened, she looked ecstatic about it. Ren, however, put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath.

"Team JNPR," Professor Ozpin greeted them. The smile on his lips implied he knew what they were up to, but he didn't want to show exactly how amused he was. "How many keys did you find?"

"Let's see!" Nora replied with gusto. "We got these," she added while pulling keys from her pockets and dropping them on the ground. "And these…" she muttered while pulling more from Ren's pockets and adding them to the pile.

"And these!" she finally exclaimed, holding up two gold-plated keys for everyone to see. "So we got like...thirty-some plus ten each so..."

"Fifty-seven," Ren answered. Finally straightening up, he looked at the keys and sighed. "Fifty-seven."

"Where did you find two of those?" Weiss demanded while pointing towards the gold keys. She knew the professors had mentioned them, but she hadn't seen a single flash of gold during their time in the forest, unless Yang's hair counted.

"You don't want to know..." Ren said while trudging past them, looking very much done for the day. "I don't know if a room is worth dying for," he muttered on the way back to the dorms.

"Congratulations, Team JNPR," Professor Ozpin began, but that was all he could say before Nora cheered and raced after her partner.

"We won, Ren! We won! Told you the Ursas were worth it!"

Professor Ozpin chuckled and shook his head. "We'll see you tomorrow for the team tournament," he added before trekking back to the school with Professor Goodwitch.

"Uh, wow." Gently tapping Nora's pile of keys with her boot, Yang shook her head. "Second place isn't bad, right?"

"Second place is awesome," Ruby agreed. Weiss, however, felt differently. Maybe they _should_ have had Ruby blaze through the forest and collect everything she laid eyes on. But the risk...

"_How_ did they do that?" Blake asked, and Weiss realized that Blake was just as disgruntled as she was. Especially when Blake's role was to be the sneaky, observant one. Plus, as a cat Faunus, one would think her eyes would easily spot small, flashy objects. But maybe that was hard to do when her eyes were constantly stuck on the loud, flashy object she called her partner.

"It's Nora," Yang replied with a shrug. "You know how competitive she is. She probably dragged Ren to a super dangerous part of the forest to find those gold keys."

"I guess..." Blake grumbled. When Yang tried to loop an arm through hers, however, she quickly moved away and glanced at Weiss. "But I want a rematch," she added before heading back to the room as if nothing happened.

Confusion flashed through Yang's eyes, but she quickly played off the moment with a smile.

"I'm _positive _you'd win a rematch. Especially if you really tried."

"Are you saying I didn't try this time?"

"No, because I distracted you too much."

Again, Blake's gaze flitted Weiss' way. And Weiss managed to hold a neutral expression, but something was wrong. Blake wasn't letting go of what happened in the forest, and she was putting more distance between herself and Yang than necessary. Normally, they walked shoulder-to-shoulder. Now, she edged away whenever Yang got too close. Based on the glances, she was doing this for Weiss'...benefit?

"Wanna watch another movie when we get back?" Yang asked, trying again to get Blake engaged in conversation.

"Sure," was all she said before lowering her gaze to the sidewalk rather than meet Yang's eyes. Surely, she realized how forced it looked. And she must realize Yang was confused by the sudden lack of affection, especially when it was cold outside and Yang expected to resume her role as personal heater.

"I still think that was a lot of fun," Ruby added, and Weiss focused on her partner rather than the awkwardness walking in front of her. "Did you have fun?" Ruby asked, and Weiss immediately knew that Ruby felt it too - the slightly uncomfortable silence that was normally filled with flirting.

"I did," she assured Ruby before glancing at Blake one last time.

This was, in many ways, frustrating. Yang was there - Yang was ready. Yang was willing to make the first move and _had_ made the first move, but Blake was like the most timid turtle to have ever lived. One gust of wind in the wrong direction, and she snuck back into her shell.

But what was this? Why was she shutting Yang out? What could she possibly hope to accomplish by confusing Yang this way?

Now, Weiss needed to figure out what Blake was thinking. And she might need to turn up the persuasion a bit, especially when it came to their most reserved teammate.

If it wasn't one thing, it was another…


	9. Chapter 9

Blake hardly said two sentences on their way back to the room, and didn't seem to notice how worried Yang grew with each second of brooding silence. Being quiet wasn't exactly new for Blake, but repeatedly rejecting Yang's attempts at conversation was. Normally, Yang could get her talking in a couple words or less. This time...Yang's efforts fell upon deaf ears. Or, more accurately, mute lips.

Sensing Yang's growing concern, Weiss stifled the urge to shake Blake by the shoulders and tell her to snap out of it. Whatever she was doing - which was brooding, something she did best - was sending all the wrong signals given the circumstances.

Yang made the first move, she initiated a kiss, they got interrupted, now Blake refused to talk or even look at her? If the same thing happened with Ruby, Weiss would be going out of her mind worrying that she made the wrong decision. That she overstepped her boundaries, made a horrible mistake, and ruined their relationship.

But that would never happen because Ruby was a better communicator than Blake was. Really, this was partially Yang's fault for pursuing the member of their team most likely to wall off and shut down at the mere thought of being vulnerable. But she decided to give it a try anyway, and Weiss decided to help - now they were _both _invested in convincing Blake out of her shell.

This situation wasn't exactly included in the Beacon handbook, but Weiss was determined to see it through to the end. Once successful, she would consider this one of her biggest victories yet. Not many people could claim to have helped a bucket of sunshine, muscles, and hairspray and an ex-guerilla fighter with trust issues start a relationship.

It was a ridiculous achievement to strive for, but she wanted it regardless. First, one of them needed to get Blake talking again.

"What should we do now?" Weiss asked while they approached their room. She directed the question to everyone, but Blake and Yang didn't realize they were included or didn't want to acknowledge it. Instead, they walked into the room without a word, so she turned to Ruby.

"I think I'll practice Grimm Bashers for a bit!" After hopping through the doorway as if touching the threshold was a sin, Ruby turned a blinding smile on Weiss. "Unless you want to do something else?"

"I'll study for a little bit," Weiss replied, but it didn't escape her notice that Ruby always made herself available for hanging out when they had free time. While it might seem like a small thing, it meant Weiss was never lonely - a stark change from her upbringing. She loved not feeling lonely...

"Cool! Just let me know if you want to do something." With that, Ruby took a running jump onto Weiss' bed and pulled out her scroll. While she co-opted the bed once again, Weiss shook her head and walked over to her desk.

The room was too quiet, especially for having both Yang and Ruby around. There should be some sort of noise happening. Laughter, giggles, anything. Instead, there was silence. Fortunately, Ruby's game provided some sound, but...half of the room was uncomfortably quiet.

Maybe it was only uncomfortable to Weiss, who felt the tension in the air while Yang dawdled - taking her sweet time removing her shoes, giving Blake _every_ opportunity to say something, before finally pulling herself onto her bed with a sigh. She sunk into her pillows and pulled out her scroll, and Blake...Blake grabbed a book and pretended to read.

She probably thought she fooled them whenever she had a book in her hands, but the speed of her page turns gave her away. Normally, she flipped pages at a quick, steady rhythm. When she pretended to read, like she was right now, she stared at one page for too long. The unblinking gaze suggested her thoughts were still stuck in the forest, on the moment that nearly changed everything.

This was bad. Very, very bad. Now that Blake was 'reading,' Weiss needed a good excuse to interrupt. But they all knew not to interrupt Blake while she read (unless they were Yang) or risk being snapped at. And a more overt attempt at communication would give away Weiss' intentions...

Trying to come up with something believable, she sat at her desk and pretended to study. That involved pulling over a notebook and some textbooks, searching for a pen, and tapping it against the paper while 'deep in thought.'

This entire situation was ridiculous. Rather than play this never-ending game of 'will they, won't they,' they should just kiss and get on with it. If Weiss was ever in this situation, that's what she would do. A kiss left no room for misinterpretation. It was, in a single action, a statement of the feelings they were hiding deep, deep inside.

Maybe she should dare them again?

Sighing to herself, she wrote a random note about Nevermores and tried to think of a less suspicious solution. She needed to draw Blake into a conversation...but how? She could start with the most inconspicuous question first - food. Now, she only needed Blake's attention...

When she cleared her throat and turned around, however, Blake didn't move a muscle. Neither did Yang. Ruby, of course, immediately looked up and gave Weiss her full attention. But Ruby was adorable and considerate and maybe just a _bit_ like a puppy seeking approval, but Weiss loved her all the more for it.

Seeing as how she hadn't been trying to get Ruby's attention, she smiled and waved Ruby back to her game before spinning around. That had worked...not at all...so she needed something else. Something she could address to Blake specifically instead of addressing the group.

She could ask what the book was about, but Blake had been reading it for the past few days and Weiss hadn't shown any interest up to now. She could ask a question for her and Ruby's paper, but Blake probably wouldn't believe that Weiss really wanted her opinion.

_Or_ she could ask Blake to explain, in a hundred words or less, how much she liked Yang in a _more-than-friendly_ sense. Her luxurious, golden hair - her chiseled physique - those gorgeous eyes - that _heart-melting_ smile - Blake could use the opportunity to get all flustered over Yang like she really wanted to. As much as listening to that would make Weiss physically nauseous, she would prefer it to the continued silence.

She had a better idea. Instead of trying to prompt Blake into communication, she should get to Blake _through_ Yang.

"Hey Yang?" she asked while turning around, thrilled by her genius. "Did you and Blake finish your paper for Oobleck already?"

And therein lies the genius - loop Blake in by proxy.

"Pretty close," Yang answered. "Just a few pages left."

Nodding at the response, Weiss waited for Blake to look up from the book.

And waited...and waited…

"Why?"

Unprepared for Yang's follow-up question, Weiss forced a smile. "No reason. Just curious."

The instant Blake's eyes snapped to her and held, she knew she just got caught. The response made it too obvious that she was fishing for a conversation, and now Blake stared at her with an intent gaze she almost shied away from.

Almost, but not quite. It took more than a Belladonna stare to make her shy away.

When Blake closed her book and set it on the bed beside her, however, Weiss spun back to her desk. At least Blake was moving, which was good. But moving towards her, which was...less good. Blake needed to move towards _Yang_ \- the blonde goofball who didn't understand what was happening between them right now.

"Hey Weiss?"

When Weiss turned, she tried to look surprised to find Blake standing beside her. Internally, she felt like she just poked an Ursa. A very surly Ursa.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

Well...it was still a step in the right direction, even though everything about Blake's aura gave Weiss reason to worry. Regardless, she nodded and followed Blake towards the door. Before stepping into the hall, however, she caught Yang's gaze and read the questions in her eyes - why would Blake talk to Weiss and not her? Was it because she really screwed up? Should she not have gone for a kiss?

Even though Weiss had no idea what Blake intended to say, she tried to give Yang a reassuring smile before leaving the room behind.

For several minutes, they walked aimlessly. At least, Weiss walked aimlessly, but she assumed that Blake was leading them wherever people were not. Downstairs, through the lobby, then outside - outside, even though it was cold and Blake must hate it.

Still, they walked, and Weiss said nothing. If Blake had something she wanted to say, Weiss didn't want to ruin it by speaking out of turn. Besides, she had no idea what to say. This entire episode began with an almost kiss that _should have _happened. Now, Blake wanted to speak with her for...reasons yet to be understood.

"About today…" Blake finally said as they passed the library but didn't go inside. "What you saw during the scavenger hunt…"

"You and Yang talking?" Weiss asked, playing the innocent card to see if it worked. From the look Blake gave her, it didn't.

"Right. When we were talking…"

Weiss wasn't a very patient person, but she would wait until the end of time to hear the end of that sentence. But Blake didn't finish it. Instead, she opened and closed her mouth…then shook her head, sighed, and finally spoke again.

"I don't want you to think that...I'd do anything to jeopardize our team..."

Suddenly, Weiss understood everything. Blake's attempt to distance herself from Yang, the glances Weiss' way, the desire to talk…

She thought that Weiss wouldn't approve. Not only that, she thought that Weiss would be _against_ their relationship. That Weiss would consider it a bad idea for maintaining the integrity of their team and keeping the potential for drama to a minimum.

Well, Blake couldn't be more wrong, and Weiss was setting that record straight right now.

"You know what's most annoying about that statement?" she asked while stopping and turning towards Blake. "That you think that you and Yang being _happy_ would somehow jeopardize our team."

Clearing not expecting that response, Blake took a step back and shook her head.

"I didn't mean -"

"Yes, you did," Weiss interrupted before Blake tried to explain it away. "You're just going to _ignore_ how you feel? You're choosing to be unhappy? Is that supposed to make _me_ happy?" The idea was so absurd, Weiss crossed her arms and scoffed. "Your instincts are great in a fight, Blake, but they suck when it comes to people."

Weiss meant the words and wouldn't take them back. Over the course of their training, Blake had proven herself more than capable in a fight. When it came to developing relationships involving any sort of closeness, however, her first response was to lock those feelings somewhere she'd never find them, outright deny them until she believed it, or just run away. _None_ of those options worked here.

She needed to stop overthinking this. Yang was already there. Yang had already accepted what her feelings meant. Yang was ready to move to whatever came next. Blake, however, just stared while trying to come to terms with what Weiss said.

Maybe it was time she took off the kid gloves and delivered a bit of bluntness.

"We chose difficult lives, Blake," she added with a shake of her head. "But that doesn't mean we can't be happy. Ruby and I want you - _and Yang_ \- to be happy. If that -" she motioned in the direction of the forest, "makes you happy, then that's exactly what we want for _both_ of you."

She made sure to emphasize that Yang _also_ wanted this to happen. That _both _of them would be happier. That this wasn't some one-sided crush destined to go nowhere. This was two people who got along amazingly well, who'd developed deeper feelings that couldn't be hidden forever.

"But…" Clearly struggling with the concept, Blake paused for several seconds before shaking her head. "But so many things could go wrong."

"That's the story of our lives," Weiss replied, gently raising her hands before dropping them to her sides. "Every time we leave Beacon, something could go wrong. Every time we walk into the forest. Even walking to class can be a hazard, at least for Ruby."

When Blake briefly smiled at the joke, Weiss continued.

"What's important is that we adapt and _communicate_. If things go wrong, then we figure out a way forward that works for everyone - do you really think you and Yang aren't mature enough to do that?"

Brow furrowed and lips pursed, Blake thought through the situation for a long time. She and Yang _were_ mature enough - surely, she knew that. And they _could_ make their team work, even if - somehow - the two of them broke up.

The decision was still a difficult one for Blake to make, but Weiss understood. Trust was a fragile thing, especially when it came to their hearts. No one wanted to risk their heart too soon, and she might advise them to slow down if she hadn't already seen how perfect they were together.

"Do you trust her?" she finally asked.

"Of course I do."

"Then you need to _show her_ that you do," she replied, knowing that she had Blake there. "We both know she'll do anything to make you happy. You just need to...give her a chance. And know that Ruby and I support both of you no matter what."

Surprisingly, she didn't feel uncomfortable speaking on Ruby's behalf. She knew Ruby would agree with her just as firmly as she knew Ruby would be hungry by the time they got back to the room. And Blake needed the encouragement - she needed to know that her teammates wouldn't turn against her. They would never do something like that. Even if a relationship with Yang fell apart, Blake wouldn't lose her team - Weiss was certain of that.

"I guess…" Blake began before pausing and letting out a big sigh. "I'm just...scared."

If Blake was the hugging type, Weiss would give her a big hug for that admission, which was huge - _huge_ \- for her.

"You literally chose one of the sweetest people at Beacon," Weiss pointed out instead. "And she adores you. You know she'll bend over backward making sure you're comfortable."

At first, Weiss expected Blake to deny that she 'chose' anyone in that way, but that denial never came. Instead, she bit her lip and thought long and hard on the words before nodding.

"You're right." Before Weiss adequately celebrated being right yet again, Blake met her eyes and smiled. "You're right," she repeated. "I trust her, and...I _can_ trust her with this. I think…"

Not exactly the 'full steam ahead' response Weiss might've hoped for, but it was still night-and-day better than where they were several minutes ago.

"You can," she reiterated before smiling. "But first, you need to let her know you're not upset about what happened, because I'm pretty sure she's freaking out."

Just like that, worry replaced Blake's uncertainty.

"You're right," she breathed out while turning back to their room. Her brow furrowed, and she stared that direction as if she could hear Yang's concerned thoughts from here. Before heading home, however, she spared one last smile for Weiss.

"Thank you."

"That's what teammates are for," Weiss replied before heading back to the room. She set a quick pace that Blake easily matched, showing through actions rather than words how greatly she wanted to get home and patch things over with Yang.

Fortunately, Blake looked determined unlike anything Weiss had seen before. At least, nothing she'd seen when it came to Yang. Maybe there was hope for them yet, and maybe there was hope for Weiss to win her personal challenge before the end of the week.

Time would tell. Right now, however, she was just glad that Blake was talking again. And she was glad that Blake would put Yang's worries at ease shortly, because Yang had no reason to second guess herself - she read the situation right, her feelings were returned. They just needed the right moment, and that hadn't been it.

Right now, Weiss didn't know when that moment would come. All she knew was that watching Blake stride towards the door and walk into the room first filled her with expectation. After following inside, she watched Blake walk over and pull herself onto Yang's bed.

"Sorry," she mumbled while moving over to Yang's side, much to Yang's wide-eyed surprise. "I just...don't like losing…and Nora found so many more keys than I did..."

Fortunately, for everyone involved, Yang bought the excuse easily.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're more competitive than Weiss."

Weiss huffed at the comment but watched Yang keep her hands firmly to herself - still uncertain about her status. At least, she was uncertain until Blake leaned into her side to prompt more contact.

Perfect. Yang lit up like she just found out it was her birthday and wrapped an arm around Blake's shoulders.

"We'll do better next time," she added with a smile, which Blake returned before snuggling into her side to savor the extra warmth. Then she smiled at Weiss and, for a split second, Weiss saw it - everything they could become as a couple, if only they got on the same page. Supportive, loving, affectionate, and _stronger_ together than they were apart. They were _right_ there - so close to that new status. All they had to do was reach for it.

Maybe it was better this way. What if the kiss happened, but Blake still felt like a relationship wouldn't be accepted? Would they try to keep it a secret? That sounded like a horrible way to start a relationship, especially when half of that relationship was Yang. Would Blake try to play it off like nothing? That would hurt Yang even more. For as much as she pretended to be strong and confident, she might be the most sensitive of the four of them.

Now that Blake knew Weiss was on their side - not just on their side, but fully supportive of their relationship - would she admit the feelings she'd held at bay for so long? Would she let her guard down a _little_ bit more? Just enough for Yang to make another attempt?

"Want to watch that movie?"

Yang kept her voice low and soft, either because the room was quiet or because she was speaking almost directly into Blake's ears.

"In a bit...can we just sit here for a little while?"

Smiling at the request, Weiss glanced Ruby's way and found her still absorbed in her game. Sometime while Weiss and Blake were talking, she'd made herself more comfortable in Weiss' bed - propping up the pillows to lean against and getting underneath the covers since she must be cold.

Neither of those things bothered Weiss in the slightest, which was surprising considering people often told her that she was bad at sharing. She grew up in an environment where she never had to share anything, but she didn't think that made her 'bad' at it. That only made her...inexperienced with it.

Everything changed when she got to Beacon. Ruby and Yang were used to sharing everything, and that mentality extended to their teammates. These days, she didn't think twice about Ruby using something of hers. As far as she was concerned, all of her possessions were Ruby's as well - that's what partners were for.

Returning to the desk, she found work much easier to focus on now that the room had returned to its normal timbre. Ruby played her game, Blake and Yang whispered about something, and Weiss sighed while turning a page in her notebook.

Between The Winter Challenge and her personal challenge, this break had been more eventful than expected. Not that she was complaining. The challenges set by the professors were actually rather fun, and Blake's progress today was exciting. For her to admit, out loud, that she liked Yang? Months ago, no one could have fathomed something like that.

Technically, she hadn't _explicitly _admitted that she liked Yang, but she hadn't denied it either. That was good enough for Weiss, who was aware of how Blake used words - or the absence of them - as a means of trickery. That was something they had in common, after all.

But the stage was set. Blake had permission - not that she ever needed it, but she had it anyway. Yang had the desire and courage. All they needed was the perfect opportunity, the perfect setting, and the two of them could take their relationship to the next level.

"Oh man!" Yang suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention her way. "The AchieveMen are playing in Vale!"

"Is...that a good thing?" Blake asked.

"It's a _great_ thing! I've wanted to go to one of their concerts for forever." Setting her scroll in her lap, Yang shot Blake a look. "What do you say - wanna go to a concert with me?"

Blake's ears flicked in surprise, but she smiled. "I'd love to. I've never been to a concert before."

"You've _never_ been to a concert?"

"There weren't exactly a lot of opportunities to do those things...before." Blake checked Weiss' reaction to the mere reference to her life before Beacon, but Weiss ignored it entirely. At this point, it didn't matter, and Blake needed to know as much.

"When's the concert?" Weiss asked instead.

"Oh, uh…" Lifting her scroll, Yang scanned the page before the excitement dropped from her expression. "Tomorrow night…"

When Ruby looked at Weiss, they both probably thought the same thing - tomorrow was Friday, and Friday was the last day of The Winter Challenge. This year, like every year, a team tournament would be held in the afternoon and, based on their results in the challenges so far, they needed to win that tournament to win the week. Considering it was them versus CRDL, SSSN, and half of JNPR, they had more than a good shot at winning.

"Maybe the tournament will be over by then?" Ruby offered, and Weiss immediately nodded. If the tournament ended fast enough, maybe they could still make it to Vale in time?

"I don't think so…plus, the concert is downtown. No way we could get there in time." After reading through more of the details, Yang dropped her scroll onto the bed and leaned against the wall. "Sold out anyway."

That seemed to be the end of that idea, as Yang sighed and Blake leaned close to offer consolation. Ruby, meanwhile, sent Weiss a disappointed look, and Weiss frowned. As much as she and Yang bickered, she wanted to see Yang happy - and the idea of going to this concert clearly made her happy. Plus, Blake had agreed to go with her.

As the room returned to normal, Weiss went back to her work, but her mind didn't leave the conversation behind. It bothered her that Yang couldn't have what she wanted, even though it directly conflicted with something she wanted.

Competing in the final challenge was the logical answer with the greatest scholarly impact. They could win - she knew they could - and then they would have access to the upper-level training rooms for the rest of the year. But she couldn't discount Yang's wishes, so she pulled over her scroll and searched for 'AchieveMen.' The concert details were the first results to show up, and Yang was right - there wasn't enough time to get from Beacon to downtown Vale unless they left in the early afternoon.

One finger tapped the edge of her scroll while she considered her options. She didn't like that Yang was disappointed, and she didn't like that _Ruby _was disappointed by Yang's disappointment. Plus, the more she thought about it, the more this seemed like the perfect opportunity to complete her personal challenge...while giving up on another.

After her conversation with Blake, she felt like they were _both_ finally ready to admit their feelings. All they needed was a light push and a little privacy. Maybe getting them off campus was the perfect solution. Just the two of them...alone in the city…going to a concert together…they could dance together. They could be as cute and couple-y as they wanted without worrying about running into someone they knew.

That's when Coco's words from earlier replayed in her mind. The Winter Challenge wasn't about winning - it was about growing closer as a team. That didn't necessarily mean becoming better huntsmen, better strategists, or better at adapting to any situation. It simply meant...growing closer as friends by sharing experiences with one another.

Even though she considered the challenges to be pretty menial, she'd still grown closer to her teammates over the course of them. Didn't that mean that, in a sense, they already won? Besides, this would give half of their team the chance to grow even closer…

Maybe Coco was right - maybe she needed to loosen up.

She hated losing, but who knew when an opportunity like this would come up again? They didn't exactly get a ton of time off from school, and their course work would only get worse once classes resumed. By the time the end of the year rolled around, their weekends would be filled with off-campus hunts chaperoned by a professor. This could be one of the last truly free moments they would have.

Ultimately, would she rather win The Winter Challenge, or see her teammates together and happy? In the midst of that quandary, her gaze slid to Ruby and a simple question popped into her mind.

What would Ruby do?

That answer was blatantly obvious…

Since the show was sold out, tickets were 'expensive,' but she bought two and sent them to Yang's scroll. She swiveled in her seat when she heard the soft 'ping' of an incoming message from the bed behind her, and watched Yang grab the device to read the message. Her eyes widened as she did so, then she dropped her scroll and looked at Weiss in shock.

"Are you serious?"

"Merry Christmas," Weiss replied with a nod. Jumping down from the bed, Yang walked over and wrapped her in a warm, tight hug.

"You're the absolute _best_, Weiss!" she said before letting Weiss go and racing over to Blake and handing her the scroll. After reading the screen, Blake looked at Weiss.

"You're really ok with this?" she asked, but Weiss scoffed and crossed her arms.

"If this is what you want to do, then you should do it. I'm not the only member of this team - I'm not the one who gets to decide what we do."

After glancing at Ruby to confirm, and receiving an enthusiastic nod, Blake looked at Yang and smiled.

"Then…" she began, but Yang answered.

"Wanna go to a concert with me?"

The moment Blake nodded, Yang smiled and pulled herself back onto her bed so they could sit together. The way they smiled at each other made Weiss even more assured with her decision, and she would feel _completely_ ok with it if this ended up getting the two of them together.

"Why don't you go out to dinner beforehand?" she suggested. As soon as Yang's eyes lit up at the idea, she turned back to her desk with a smirk.

"That sounds great! What do you think?"

"If you want to…" Blake replied, but Yang chuckled.

"Of course I do! We can try that restaurant you were talking about."

"Really?"

The more Weiss eavesdropped on them planning their 'date,' the less she cared about forfeiting The Winter Challenge. They could _possibly_ still win if there was a major upset during the tournament, but she was fine with the results either way. Ultimately, she just wanted everyone to be happy - that would make her happy.

Feeling a presence by her elbow, she looked up and smiled when she found Ruby standing beside her. "Done with your game?" she asked, and Ruby smiled back at her.

"For now!" Ruby's gaze flitted towards Blake and Yang, who were in the midst of picking a restaurant and making a reservation. "Do you want to work in the library?"

That sounded like a marvelous idea. What better way to let Blake and Yang soak in the excitement of their upcoming date than by giving them privacy to plan it?

"I'd love to."

When Ruby grinned, Weiss packed up her schoolwork and made sure to grab the work they'd done on their paper so far. While she did that, Ruby moved over to her drawers and tossed her notebooks and writing utensils into a bag. "We're heading to the library," she announced while doing so. "See you guys later!"

"See ya," Yang replied while hardly looking up from the scroll in her hands. Blake, however, caught Weiss' gaze while she and Ruby left the room. It was one last attempt to clarify her stance on the matter, and she nodded - silently voicing her approval of this newfound adventure - before following Ruby into the hall.

Once the door closed, she thought less about her teammates and more on her partner and the work they'd done so far.

"We should be able to finish tonight," she mused while following Ruby towards the library. "There are only a few short sections left to do, then you can help me proofread."

"With time to spare!" Ruby skipped once before settling back into a walk, and Weiss shook her head at the display of exuberance, which Ruby was somewhat famous for.

"Yes, with time to spare," Weiss replied while they left the dorm building behind and headed towards the library.

For several seconds, they walked in silence - a comfortable silence unlike what she grew up with. That silence was cold...dangerous...like a bomb waiting to go off. Silence with Ruby, while rare, was the opposite. It made her happy, content, and relaxed. If they didn't talk for an entire day (although an impossibility), she wouldn't sit on pins and needles waiting for the explosion on the horizon. Instead, she would know Ruby was thinking about something, and that Ruby would tell her when ready.

She loved having a partner she knew so well. And a partner who was easy to get along with, easy to talk to - just all around a wonderful person to spend time with.

"That was really nice of you."

Pulled from her thoughts, Weiss found Ruby smiling at her - one of those bright, kind smiles that made her feel like she'd done something amazing, even though that wasn't the case.

"Yang's hard to think of gifts for," she replied, and tried to brush off the feeling with a wave of indifference. "She said she wanted to go, so this was easier than coming up with something else."

"Yeah, but...you really wanted to win."

"I always want to win," she admitted. She didn't mention that she still had a shot of winning at least _one _challenge this break, which was hopefully progressing as they spoke. "That's nothing new."

"Still, it was really nice of you. Yang hasn't been to one of their concerts in forever - she's always too busy or broke when they're in Vale."

Ruby made it sound like some incredible gesture of kindness, but Weiss didn't see it that way. To her, it was simply...moving forward with her goal of getting Blake and Yang together, while trying to see the two of them become even stronger and closer together than before. Knowing she actually did something to make Yang happy though...that made her feel even better about letting their school challenge fall by the wayside.

She might never admit it, but this feeling could be better than winning The Winter Challenge. Something about it was fulfilling and rewarding in a way schoolwork had never been, regardless of her results. And with something so simple...taking care of her teammates, who she wanted the best for anyway...it was something she could do again, and something she _wanted _to do again.

"I think it'll be great for them to spend more time together," she admitted while they walked up the steps to the library.

"Agreed." When Ruby held the door, Weiss smiled and dipped her head while walking through. "Yang really likes spending time with Blake," Ruby added as she returned to Weiss' side. "I don't think she's ever liked someone so much."

The comment drew Weiss' gaze, and she suddenly wondered how much Ruby knew. From the small, blissful smile on her face, it was difficult to tell. Did she mean that in a friendly way, or had she noticed that Blake was different from the people Yang liked in the past?

"You mean Yang's never had such a close friend before?" Weiss prodded.

"Blake isn't just a friend to Yang."

Hearing that, she stopped walking and looked at Ruby. Did Ruby already know? Had Yang told her? Or had she figured it out on her own?

"Blake's her partner," Ruby added. "And Yang would do anything for her."

A smile slipped onto Weiss' lips at the response, which hinted at everything she suspected while maintaining Ruby's sheen of innocence. Maybe Ruby wasn't quite there yet, but...she was close.

"Like how we're partners?" Weiss teased, only to laugh when Ruby nodded and skipped over to a table.

"_Exactly_ like how we're partners!"

The certainty in the response made Weiss laugh again. Ruby didn't know what she was implying with that answer, but she didn't mind or care. She appreciated the sentiment that the two of them were on the same level of partnership as Yang and Blake. She liked to think so, especially as they continued their training and found more and more moments of pure, unexplainable connectivity.

"Why's that so funny?" Ruby asked while pulling out the seat next to Weiss.

"It's funny to think you like me _exactly _how Yang likes Blake."

"But I do!"

Weiss chuckled again. "Oh do you?"

"I definitely do." When Ruby nodded, Weiss decided to cut her partner a break.

"Ok, I believe you," she acquiesced. The response mollified Ruby, who hummed and pulled her notebooks out of her bag. Weiss did the same, but kept an eye on Ruby and a smile in place.

Now that Ruby brought it up - on her own volition, no less - Weiss couldn't help wondering what that would be like. How would Ruby behave with someone she liked in _that _way? How would she change? _Would_ she change?

While Weiss was interested in knowing the answer, she was also content to wait before finding out. The idea of Ruby _liking _someone didn't sit well with her - not at all. In fact, she'd go so far as to say she didn't enjoy the idea one bit. Not only could she think of no one worthy of Ruby's attention, but any relationship would cut into the time the two of them spent together. That time was more valuable to Weiss than she would ever let on, and she would guard it as much as possible.

Of course, if someone made Ruby truly happy, then she would try to be supportive. Big emphasis on try. Over time, she might be able to accept it so long as her partner time with Ruby wasn't impacted. Even then, the idea of Ruby becoming romantically involved with someone else didn't _feel_ right.

But that was an issue for the distant future, hopefully. In the meantime, she would covet as much as Ruby's time as possible. Ruby was her partner - her best friend - and she didn't want anyone else to get in the way of that.

"I have these for you to read over," Ruby mused while sliding over her notebook. "And I'll start reading what you did?"

"Sure." After swapping notebooks, Weiss gave Ruby another smile before going through their work. Surprisingly, she loved working on this paper together. Ruby had gone out of her way to pull her weight but, also, she loved more opportunities to accomplish something together. A ten-page paper might be trivial in the big picture, but it was still _their _paper.

"I love the introduction," Ruby announced after reading the first paragraph. "Is it ok if I add a thought?"

"Of course." Weiss smiled while Ruby wrote her thoughts in the margin of the page, to be discussed later.

Sometimes, she felt like Ruby could have been paired with anyone at Beacon and still been successful. But there were small moments, like this one, where she believed that _she _might be the best partner for Ruby. At least, she hoped she was the best partner for Ruby...because Ruby was the best partner for her.


	10. Chapter 10

This was perfect. Really, Weiss couldn't have planned it any better.

Well...she _could _have planned it better if she had more time or more willing participants. They didn't even need to be willing - more capable of communicating their feelings would work. Or not having one whose first response to intimacy was walling off her emotions.

Regardless, she did her best with the hand she was dealt - an effusive, affectionate brawler who pretended to be a flirt while wearing her heart on her sleeve, and an ex-White Fang member who would prefer that everyone believed she didn't have emotions. Not exactly the most confidence-inspiring of couples, but...somehow, they made it work.

And, after spending an entire week together, Blake and Yang were headed out on what could only be described as a date.

Of course, neither of them would call it a date. In fact, they avoided the word as if saying it would strike them down the moment it left their lips. Instead, they referred to it as 'tonight,' 'the concert,' 'dinner,' 'our trip,' 'a night out on the town,' 'a break from Beacon,' 'alone time,' 'partner time,' 'going out,' and - Weiss' personal favorite - 'Blake's first.'

Yang immediately added 'concert' after that one, but not before Blake nearly burst into flames.

What was it about Blake that made Yang say the dumbest things? And what was it about Yang that made Blake flustered by those dumb things?

Regardless, they'd spent an entire week basking in their emotions - which included several moments of angst, uncertainty, and the desperate need for encouragement - and could now go out into the world and _finally_ come to the realization that this was what they could always be. Together as more than partners, more than friends.

They _were_ more than partners already, they just needed one last nudge. And that nudge would come in the form of a not-date that included what sounded very much like a fancy, intimate dinner followed by a concert for Yang's favorite band.

Weiss wouldn't say she was _smug_, but this worked out pretty well.

After the slight scare of the failed kiss, Yang was back to her usual, effusively-affectionate self. And Blake...Blake had been different all day - almost like the conversation yesterday really had an impact. She stayed closer to Yang (even closer than usual) and was on the _giving _end of several compliments that Weiss hadn't failed to notice.

Now, Weiss only needed to sit back, relax, and wait for her plan to come to fruition. Sure, they wouldn't win The Winter Challenge, but that hardly mattered right now. Not while she relished her success and watched Yang pace the room like a hug-deprived partner who _really _couldn't wait to wrap someone up in her arms - potentially for a kiss, but only if she found the damn courage. Weiss couldn't do _everything _for them…

Maybe she didn't have to though. Maybe they could actually take it from here. Through her choice in clothing (and the pacing), Yang silently announced that this night was special. While she normally made an effort to coordinate her outfit, tonight was on a whole different level. Even Weiss would admit she looked nice - casual yet somehow fancy at the same time. It definitely wasn't the type of outfit she wore for their team trips to Vale.

Now they all - besides Ruby - waited for Blake to reveal her choice of clothing for the evening. Yang paced while waiting, probably going through scenario after scenario while trying not to _freak out_ that she was _going on a date_ with _Blake_. Could she hold Blake's hand? Would they dance together? Or would they be one of those adorable, lovey-dovey couples who just held each other and gently swayed to the music?

Weiss wanted to know probably as much as Yang did, but she'd accepted - somewhat - that she wouldn't be along for this next step in their relationship. She would see the aftermath though, definitely. For now, she felt pretty content just sitting on her bed with Ruby beside her and Yang freaking out in front of them. Ruby was so absorbed in her game that she didn't notice Yang's nerves, but that was fine - Weiss happily accepted the mantle as the more observant of the two of them.

As soon as she heard a door open, she glanced at Yang before watching Blake walk out of the bathroom. After catching only a split-second glance at Blake's outfit, she turned her attention back to Yang, whose jaw practically dropped to the floor the moment she saw her not-date.

"W-wow, you look…" After gesturing with her hand as if that was a word, Yang added a breathless, "_Fantastic_."

Blake blushed and shifted her gaze to the floor, but she was none-too-secretly pleased with Yang's reaction to her outfit and the effort that went into selecting it.

"You do too," she replied, but Yang didn't seem to hear. Instead, she continued staring with that big, dopey, lovestruck grin on her lips.

When the unadulterated yearning went on long enough to become uncomfortable for the _other_ inhabitants of the room, Weiss cleared her throat. The sound broke Yang and Blake's gaze and set them in motion to find their bags and scrolls and everything else they needed for this monumental night. Hopefully, Yang packed some extra courage, and Blake grabbed some extra readiness to accept Yang's affections. But those were only Weiss' suggestions.

Once they were ready - or as ready as two nervous fools could be - they got stuck smiling at each other again.

Seriously, if this continued all night, they would miss the concert entirely. They might not even make it to Vale - they'd get stuck at the airship station just smiling at each other.

"Ready?" Weiss butted in, shaking them from their gawking as they double-checked their belongings.

"Think so." After patting her pockets one more time, Yang nodded at Blake. "You ready?"

"I am."

Weiss nearly sighed when yet another smile appeared but, fortunately, this one only lasted a second before they moved towards the door.

"Thank you so much," Yang said again, patting Weiss' shoulder and giving her a grateful smile that she waved off.

"No problem. You two have fun."

When Yang walked to the door and waited, Blake moved to follow - but not without pausing by Weiss' side.

"Thank you for talking yesterday," she said, lowering her voice so Yang couldn't overhear.

"You're welcome." Dipping her head, Weiss smiled and motioned for Blake to get going. "Have a good time," she said, feeling her heart lift when Blake smiled and joined Yang by the door.

Again, the two of them shared a smile - this one nervous but excited beyond measure - before Yang extended her hand. Blake willingly took it, and their fingers intertwined before they left hand-in-hand.

On their date.

Once quiet returned to the room, Weiss hummed and returned her attention to her notebook. Her mind, however, remained stubbornly fixed upon the two girls leaving Beacon for the evening.

They dressed up.

To Weiss, that was as good as a signed confession of their feelings. They _liked _each other, and they considered this to be a date. Even though they refused to say the word, they behaved as if it was true. Because it was. Now, they had the entire evening to realize they felt the same, and that they _could_ be together.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be there to witness the inevitable sparks. What she wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for the evening...but they could take it from here. Between her conversation with Blake yesterday and Yang's propensity to spew feelings as soon as she felt them, the two of them were destined for an illuminating night. Upon their return, she would bask in the glow of her hard work.

"Uh, Weiss?"

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she looked over and found Ruby now standing beside her.

"Yes?"

"The tournament will start soon," Ruby pointed out, gesturing towards the clock before smiling. "We could still compete, you know. Just the two of us? Like Nora and Ren! Or we could go watch?"

After glancing at their paper, which was finished several days ahead of schedule, Weiss looked at Ruby and considered the offer. It wasn't as if they spent _too _much time together - in actuality, anything but. They could use more alone time to cement their relationship. In that case, wouldn't it be nice to spend a Friday evening fighting in the tournament or watching their classmates spar?

She supposed she should have a preference one way or the other - she almost always did. But right now, with Blake and Yang setting off on their happy journey together, she wanted Ruby to have an equally good night.

"Sure," Weiss answered, flipping her notebook shut and smiling when Ruby did an adorable fist pump. "But which would you rather do? Do you want to fight or watch?"

"Uh...is this a trick question?"

"It's not," she replied with a shake of her head. "I want to know what _you _want to do, not what you want to do because you think it's what I want to do."

Ruby often went along with what everyone else wanted to do, but didn't she deserve to do what she wanted for once?

"Um...I mean...fighting wouldn't be so bad..." Ruby glanced at Weiss after trailing off, clearly trying to read her for the answer. But she refused to give a hint - although she really couldn't. Right now, she wanted to do what _Ruby _wanted to do. While a somewhat new occurrence, it felt...nice.

"But watching wouldn't be so bad either..." Ruby continued before glancing over again.

"Then which would you like more?" Weiss prodded. Sensing how difficult this was for Ruby, she decided that she needed to do this more often. It wasn't fair for her partner to constantly go along with what she wanted - she was only half of this relationship, after all.

"I'm...not sure..."

"I'm being serious, Ruby." Reaching out, Weiss gently squeezed Ruby's hands. "I want to do what you want to do. If you want to sit and watch, that's fine. I'm ok with losing the challenge. If anything, it's just been fun spending so much time with you. And Blake and Yang."

She added the last part a little late, but Ruby was already smiling too much for her to feel embarrassed about it.

"Um...well, I think it'd be fun to watch," Ruby finally answered. "Because we won't get to just watch once school starts again. We'll always be a second away from fighting ourselves, which is kinda more stressful."

The answer surprised Weiss for its forward thinking, and her smile was easy as she accepted Ruby's wishes.

"Then that's what we'll do," she replied before letting go of Ruby's hands and getting ready.

She honestly didn't mind not participating. If anything, Ruby was right - they wouldn't have many opportunities like this once classes resumed. It might be nice, and definitely carefree. Plus, if she'd learned anything, it was that spending time with Ruby was enjoyable no matter what they did.

"Ready?" Ruby asked while Weiss found a nice jacket and slid her arms through the sleeves.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Grabbing her scroll, she smiled and followed Ruby out the door.

"I'm excited! It's been a while since we've watched a fight that doesn't affect us."

"It _does_ affect us," Weiss pointed out as they headed towards the arena. "If CRDL or SSSN wins, I think we can still win the challenge -"

"_But -_" Ruby interrupted, "We don't _need_ to win. Because it's just fun participating, right? Besides, we'll get to use the upper-level rooms in a few months anyway, and we've done pretty well with the normal rooms so far."

That was a 'glass half full' response, and typical from Ruby. Sometimes, Weiss wished she thought like Ruby did. Fortunately, she didn't have to when Ruby voiced those thoughts out loud.

"You're right. It's a nice perk, but I don't think we need it."

Accepting that they probably wouldn't win was easier than she expected. It actually felt...nice. Like the pressure to always be the best had temporarily lifted and she could enjoy her time with Ruby instead. That feeling dampened when they walked into the arena and found the other teams already assembled. Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch were also there, same as every other challenge this week, and she realized that she now had to explain to her professors why she wasn't competing - why she would rather do nothing.

What would they think about that? Would this negatively impact their view of her? Would they regard her differently? Worse?

Actually, she didn't need to explain the decision at all. This competition wasn't mandatory, and she and Ruby decided they would sit it out. It was a partner decision, and they didn't need to share the exact reasons behind it, plain and simple.

"Team RWBY," Professor Ozpin greeted them before taking in their outfits, lack of weapons, and lack of teammates. "Will only the two of you be competing?"

"We're not participating in this challenge," Weiss replied with certainty. "We're here to watch instead."

After making that announcement, she held his gaze - refusing to back down from their decision - and watched a smile pull at his lips. For a second, she felt like he approved of the choice, but why would he do that? This was a school for huntsmen. Shouldn't he encourage them to train and compete no matter what?

"Very well," he replied before taking a sip of coffee and addressing the other three teams. "Without Team RWBY, Team JNPR moves into the final based on current standings. They'll fight the winner between Teams CRDL and SSSN."

Grinning at the positive turn in events, Nora grabbed Ren's arm and pulled him off to the side to wait. Meanwhile, the members of Team CRDL glowered at SSSN who, again, looked like they were here just for the heck of it.

"Let's get started, shall we?" When Professor Ozpin motioned with one hand, Ruby grabbed Weiss' arm and pulled her towards the stands.

"Let's get seats," she whispered while leading Weiss up the steps to the bleachers.

The rest of Beacon must have been informed about the tournament, which explained the smattering of students who'd also come to watch. They, like Weiss and Ruby, probably wanted to enjoy the fights before school resumed. Or they had nothing else to do - which seemed impossible to Weiss because there was _always _more work to do.

While she wouldn't have minded sitting near the slightly-raucous group of upperclassmen in the center of the stands, she was relieved when Ruby led them to a mostly-abandoned section where they could watch by themselves. Without anyone nearby, it felt more intimate, more personal, more relaxed…

And she realized that she should trust Ruby's instincts more often, even if it meant doing things she wasn't accustomed to - like enjoying a fight rather than always participating.

"Is this ok?" Ruby asked while gesturing towards a spot on the bleachers. When Weiss nodded, she sat down and patted the space beside her. Accepting the invitation, Weiss sat down and smiled when Ruby scooted closer.

"I know we _want_ CRDL or SSSN to win," Ruby said while the two teams moved to opposite ends of the arena. "But I kinda want Ren and Nora to win…"

"I do too," Weiss admitted, and added a smile when Ruby looked at her for confirmation.

"Team CRDL versus Team SSSN," someone announced via the loudspeaker. "You may begin."

Just like that, the battle started. Team CRDL, true to form, charged straight ahead and took no time to figure out a strategy or feel out SSSN's response. The result, as usual, was pandemonium.

"Oh! Just had an idea!" When Ruby jumped to her feet, Weiss made a noise of protest, but she was already gone. Sighing as a smattering of petals dusted the stands around her, Weiss counted to ten before Ruby reappeared beside her.

"This is better!"

Apparently, Ruby had returned to their room and emptied her food drawer, because now her arms were filled with drinks and an assortment of junk food. While she arranged everything on the bench in front of them, Weiss smiled and shook her head.

"Dinner _and _a show," she joked while Ruby offered her a box of candy. "You're quite the date, Ruby Rose."

When Ruby giggled at the term - which Weiss was actually capable of saying out loud - she smiled and accepted several pieces of candy before glancing at the battle still underway. Just watching the boys fight, she confirmed that she and Ruby could have beaten either team. Their movements were lackadaisical, their formations loose and messy, and their general effort quite subpar.

"Oh, look." Ruby leaned close to Weiss, close enough for Weiss to take a lovely breath of roses, and pointed towards the battle. "Have you noticed how Cardin skips before every swing?"

"No…?"

"Watch!"

While Ruby waited - still close enough to be a considerable distraction - Weiss watched Cardin. Sun nearly took him off his feet, but he dodged the blow and prepared a counter attack. And, sure enough, he added a cute little hop before swinging with all his might.

When Ruby giggled, Weiss laughed.

"It probably helps him swing harder or something," Ruby added before tossing several pieces of candy into her mouth.

"It makes him look a bit like a ballerina."

With the sound of Ruby's laughter making her feel upbeat and happy, Weiss trained her eyes on the two teams fighting below them. She wished that she was half as good at picking out nuances, but she simply wasn't. She was observant. She was intelligent. She could be a strategist. But Ruby was...a natural. Her ability to find weaknesses and fighting quirks was rivaled by none.

"What about Sun?" she asked, curious about what other insights Ruby had to offer.

"What about him?" Ruby asked before frowning. "You don't..._like_ him, do you?"

The mere idea of it was enough to make Weiss laugh, especially when it was so far from what she was trying to ask.

"No," she added with a shake of her head. "Not in a million years."

"Oh." Ruby looked relieved by the answer, but also moderately embarrassed. "Good!" she added anyway. "Because I think you can do better."

While flattered by the response, Weiss smiled and moved on rather than make Ruby even more embarrassed.

"What I meant was, do you know any of his fighting quirks?"

"Ohhhh." Staring at Sun while he leapt around the arena, Ruby furrowed her brow before waving her hand. "Well, he does that tail thing."

"What tail thing?"

"You don't know about the tail thing?"

"Does this look like someone in the know?" Weiss replied with a laugh. "Just tell me, dolt."

"Ok, ok." Again leaning close to Weiss' side, Ruby pointed out Sun while he hopped around Dove. "So when he jumps super high - like that high -" At that moment, Sun leaped into the air before landing and flinging his weapon towards Cardin. "His tail does this adorable little twitch."

With their full attention on Sun, they waited for him to jump again. Given his fighting style, it would probably be any second -

"There!" Ruby called out as soon as he jumped. And, sure enough, his tail twitched when he did, as if leaping around made him especially happy.

While Weiss laughed at learning something new, Ruby leaned away with a smile.

"I don't know how you notice these things."

"I like watching people fight." Ruby shrugged at the response, as if that alone explained her better-than-average skillset.

Weiss would have argued, but then the crowd cheered when Neptune depleted Dove's aura, knocking him out of the fight. Russel quickly followed. Now with an advantage in numbers, Team SSSN actually grouped together and used a team combo to wipe out the rest of CRDL.

"They're toast," Ruby said. And, sure enough, Cardin and Sky were knocked out seconds later - although Cardin took out Sage in the process. The crowd cheered their first victors, but Weiss shook her head while SSSN soaked in the applause.

"Imagine how good they'd be if they actually tried," she mused while Team CRDL dragged themselves from the arena.

"Probably not much better."

"What makes you say that?"

"Part of what makes them good is that they have a super relaxed fighting style," Ruby explained. "If they tried, they'd stress out and do worse."

While watching the team exchange high-fives, Weiss thought about the response and eventually nodded. Having once seen Neptune _have _to do well on a test, she understood the issue. What made them good was that they were laid back. Without that...what did they have?

This was contrary to her own team, who possessed all of the qualities to focus and compete while also take it easy. At least, Yang and Ruby could relax in the same way as Team SSSN. Blake could, sometimes, but Weiss...still had a little work to do. But she was here watching instead of competing - and actually enjoying herself - so maybe she was making more progress than she thought.

"Wanna bet who wins?" Ruby asked while Nora and Ren walked into the arena to a loud round of applause.

"Unless you're taking SSSN, no. This is like a cookie meeting a boulder." Hearing Ruby's giggle, Weiss turned to the side and smiled. "What?"

"You just used a cookie reference!" Ruby pointed out before giggling again and leaning into Weiss' side, which made Weiss' smile grew.

"I'm finally learning to speak your language."

When they first met, she couldn't understand Ruby's fascination with cookies, games, and all things whimsical. That was, of course, because she was the furthest thing from whimsical. Over time, however, she'd learned more about those subjects, more about Ruby, and how to better communicate in terms Ruby understood.

That wasn't to say she was the only one making changes, however. Ruby also made considerable efforts to better their communication - exactly how a true partnership should work.

"Maybe we could bet on how long they last…" Ruby mused while the loudspeaker came to life once more.

"Team SSSN versus Team JNPR - you may begin."

To everyone watching, Nora and Ren looked seriously outmatched. But _no one _wanted to face Nora when she was determined to win something. Then there was Ren, who had a sneaky ability to keep her out of harm's way.

Team SSSN was in for trouble.

"They aren't ready," Ruby said while Team SSSN looked completely lost about how to deal with the fireball plowing through them one by one. Apparently, they hadn't spared a second to come up with a way to contain Nora, which allowed her to wreak havoc while Ren beat away their attempts to counterattack.

"Oh crap - Neptune," Ruby said right before Nora pummeled Neptune with a superpowered blow of her hammer. The force behind it launched him clear out of the arena and into the stands, where he landed in a haphazard heap nearby.

"You ok?" Weiss called out to him while he pushed himself to his feet.

"Oh, hey Weiss," he replied with a dorky wave. "Course I am!" Taking a deep breath, he straightened his posture and winced when his back cracked. Appearing none the worse for wear, however, he caught sight of Ruby and smiled.

"Hey Ruby - you look particularly ravishing today."

When he winked, Weiss rolled her eyes and summoned a glyph under his feet.

"See you, Neptune," she said before catapulting him back into the arena, smiling as he yelped in surprise.

His trajectory sent him in a high, slow arc that Nora put herself in position to meet. And the rest of SSSN...jumped to the side and preemptively saluted their soon-to-be fallen comrade.

Realizing what was about to happen, Neptune corrected himself mid-air, fell out of the way, and raised his hands before Nora got to him. The expression of defeat was enough that she paused, and he walked out of the arena under his own volition.

"Smart," Ruby said before giggling. "And he called me 'ravishing.'"

"Don't fall for his womanizing, Ruby. You deserve far better than Neptune."

Ruby giggled again, but Weiss realized they needed to have a serious conversation sooner rather than later. That, or she would speak to every boy at Beacon and politely but _firmly _tell them to keep their hands off. That might be the easiest solution...

"Oh watch!"

Jolted back to the battle, Weiss looked where Ruby pointed.

"Scarlet's about to get toasted," Ruby added moments before Nora knocked Scarlet into the stratosphere. The crowd cheered while Ruby chuckled, and Weiss again felt incredibly grateful for such an amazing partner. Not only was Ruby one of the most destructive huntresses at Beacon, but her instincts were top notch. Who else could have seen that blow coming seconds in advance? And seconds, to huntsmen, were the difference between surviving and thriving.

"They so lost," Ruby added while the rest of SSSN collapsed like playing cards - Sage then Sun getting knocked out in quick succession.

While Nora leapt into Ren's arms for a hug, the spectators gave a hearty cheer for the victors before slowly disbursing now that the show was over. Watching Nora celebrate, Weiss felt a prick of jealousy and a bit of regret that she and Ruby hadn't participated because she was confident that they could've given half of Team JNPR a run for their money. They could have won.

When she stood and glanced at Ruby, however, that feeling faded away. As much fun as it would have been to show off their skills in front of their fellow students, watching from the stands hadn't been that bad either. In fact, she really enjoyed the experience. It was...relaxing.

"Guessing they won the whole challenge then," Ruby commented while leading them out of the arena.

"Most likely." Based on the results from the rest of the week, Nora and Ren's victory tonight was probably the deciding factor. But Weiss had already accepted that, and had something more important she wanted to say at the moment. The problem was that the more she thought about it, the harder it became to get the words out.

She wished she was better at communicating her feelings, but sometimes they were so overwhelming that she couldn't get a grasp on them. All she knew was that Ruby made her feel…a lot of things. And she was always grateful, so she should try to express that gratitude.

"Thank you," she finally got out as they walked across campus, the cold air nipping their noses while their breaths formed small clouds in front of them.

"For what?"

Thinking about the question, she wondered what reason she should give. For being a wonderful partner? A great friend? A positive influence?

"For a wonderful evening," she replied with a smile that grew as Ruby's did.

"You're welcome! It's nice when it's just the two of us."

"It is, isn't it?" she agreed before wondering why that was the case. She enjoyed spending time with Blake and Yang too, but Ruby was just...different.

"When it's just the two of us, we don't have to listen to Yang brag about everything!" Ruby added, and Weiss chuckled before attempting her best Yang impersonation.

"I bet I can punch a hole in this wall," she said while motioning to the wall of their dorm building. "Watch me crush this rock into pebbles," she added while they passed a decently-sized rock near the entrance. "Then I'll crush the pebbles into sand."

Hearing Ruby's laughter, Weiss couldn't help but laugh as well. Yang had never said anything like that, or sounded anything like that, which somehow made it even funnier.

"Your sister's a strange one," she commented as they headed upstairs.

"At least you didn't have to grow up with her!"

While she smiled at the response, she knew that she wouldn't have minded growing up with Yang or Ruby. Doing so would have been lightyears better than what she went through. For as much as she gave them a hard time...she loved them both.

"Blake and Yang missed out," Ruby added while they walked towards their room. "Bet the concert wasn't as much fun."

"Oh, _right._" While having such a great time with Ruby, Weiss completely forgot about the concert. Now she wondered how the 'date' was going. "I hope they're having a good time too," she added while approaching their door.

"Not as much fun as we did!"

"Well, of course not." When Ruby hopped forward to open the door, Weiss smiled at her before walking inside.

The moment she saw the scene in front of her, however, her smile disappeared.

"Hey Blake!" Ruby said, failing to notice how stiffly Blake sat on her bed while glaring at the book in her hands. "The concert's over already? How was it?"

"Fine."

Weiss flinched at the curt response while Ruby knelt down and unlaced her boots.

"You guys missed all the fun!" she added while doing so. "We watched SSSN destroy CRDL, then get destroyed by Nora and Ren."

"Great..."

"Plus, Weiss and I ate a bunch of junk food. It was awesome." After grinning at Weiss - who managed a small smile in return - Ruby looked around the rest of the room. "Where's Yang?"

"On a date."


	11. Chapter 11

"On a date."

Weiss froze at the response and stared at Blake, who glowered at the book in her hands as if she wanted to set it on fire with her eyes.

"I'm sorry - _what?_"

"With who?" Ruby added on, far less concerned about this than Weiss was.

"Some guy," Blake answered while flipping the page so hard she nearly tore it. "Met him at the concert - he asked her to go out with him. Kept asking and asking, so she went."

"Who is he? What did he look like?" Ruby's questions only agitated Blake further, as she flipped another page with far too much force.

"Who knows. I don't even care."

Before Ruby said anything else, Weiss gently nudged her side and gave her a quick shake of the head. From the way Ruby's brow furrowed, she was clearly confused by the silent instruction but still heeded it - although she gave Blake a more intent glance before walking over to Weiss' bed.

Clearly, spitting words out as if they tasted like dirt meant Blake didn't care. As did treating her precious books like they somehow wronged her. Perfectly normal responses to not caring about something…

But what happened? What Blake said made no sense, and Weiss couldn't believe that Yang would accept an unsolicited date from anyone but Blake - she was that hopelessly devoted to her partner. Blake was the only one on her mind, and the only one she looked at in _that_ way.

Really, the only situation where Weiss could imagine Yang doing something like that would be...

"You didn't...push her into it, did you?"

The book snapped shut, and Blake threw it on the bed.

"She _obviously_ wanted to go and was only saying no because I was there. So I took myself out of the equation and surprise, she went." Done with the conversation, Blake stood and stalked past them to the bathroom. Weiss cringed when the door slammed shut, but also at what Blake just said.

"Why's she so upset?" Ruby whispered, but Weiss shook her head and dropped her bag onto her bed rather than try to explain.

Blake could be the most stubborn out of the four of them, it just wasn't as obvious because she often played peacemaker between Weiss and Yang. When it came to matters of the heart, however...no one was less willing to admit their feelings than Blake. In fact, she was more likely to claim the _opposite_, which Weiss prayed hadn't happened tonight. If she came right out and denied any feelings of attraction...that would crush Yang.

"I'm going to play more Grimm Bashers, if that's ok?"

When Weiss looked over, Ruby held up her scroll and gave a hopeful smile.

"Sure, Ruby," Weiss replied while turning away. "That's fine. We don't have anything else to do tonight."

The only other thing she had planned to do was celebrate the newly-formed couple on their team and the success of her subtle efforts. Unfortunately, that seemed completely out of the question now.

Hearing the bathroom door open, she glanced that way and watched Blake walk back to her bed to read. She didn't say a word - she didn't make eye contact - and she still had a deep frown set in place. She was unhappy, and everything about her aura screamed 'don't talk to me.' She didn't want consolation. She didn't want support. She was miserable, and that's exactly how she wanted to be.

After sparing Blake a glance, Weiss watched Ruby play her game. A quiet voice in the back of her mind, however, wondered if that's what she used to be like. She remembered shutting people out, sitting on her bed stewing on her anger or frustration. She remembered snapping when Ruby tried to talk to her, even though Ruby was only trying to help.

These days, she sought Ruby out when she needed comfort. Like right now, she leaned into Ruby's side while trying to figure out what happened and how Blake and Yang's adorable date went horribly wrong. They were supposed to confess their feelings and end up together, not...whatever this was.

Weiss needed more information, and fast. What happened at the concert? Why would Blake say that Yang was on a date? If it wasn't true - and Weiss couldn't believe that it was - then where was Yang?

Up until this moment, Weiss had felt very much in control of the situation - like guiding an airship to a landing pad, descending gently from the skies on a predetermined path set by the computers. She hadn't expected to hit turbulence mere minutes from a perfect landing. Now she had to take over the controls and figure out a way to steer them...somewhere. Either back to the skies - to safety - or still try to land the damn thing.

She snapped out of her thoughts when Ruby placed a finger on the spot where her brow knit together when she brooded. It was Ruby's silent way of saying that she noticed Weiss dealing with something and was willing to support if needed.

Catching Ruby's eyes, which were understandably concerned, Weiss smiled and shook her head. If she thought of a way Ruby could help, she would ask. But at this point...she was at a loss. Until they knew where Yang was, they couldn't do much.

Covertly pulling out her scroll, she typed a quick 'hey, where are you?' and sent it off to Yang. Unsure of what to do while waiting for a response, she sat beside Ruby and hoped for her scroll to chime soon. Normally, Yang replied pretty fast, and she almost always had her scroll with her. So when several minutes passed and there was still no response, Weiss started to worry.

Under ordinary circumstances, she would assume Yang was busy or in the midst of a conversation. Under these circumstances...she wanted to make sure Yang wasn't in some sort of trouble. Most likely, that wasn't the case. Most likely, her message - and all messages - were being intentionally ignored. But she'd prefer to know that for sure rather than sit here guessing…

"Wanna see something cool?" Ruby asked after several more minutes of silence passed. Seeing as how staring at her phone was driving her a little crazy, Weiss said "sure" and turned towards Ruby.

"I learned a new trick," Ruby explained while holding her scroll up. From the softness of her voice, she understood something was up but didn't know how to address it. Instead, she did what she did best - provided a distraction. "Ok, watch this."

Weiss glanced at Blake one more time before doing her best to focus on the screen while Ruby played the game. Simulated Grimm flashed forward only to be destroyed by Ruby's huntress avatar, who had the same red color scheme she loved. The number of Grimm killed grew by the second, but the tide still turned against her. The screen filled with more and more black, forcing her character into a smaller and smaller corner trying to rebuff the onslaught.

But, right before her character should have been overtaken, a giant fireball exploded on the screen and took all of the Grimm with it. Just like that, the stage cleared, and the game congratulated her before moving to the next level.

Before the next level started, however, she offered the scroll to Weiss.

"Want to try?"

"Oh, no thanks." Weiss already knew she was horrible at this game - she didn't need a reminder.

"But I made one for you to play." After clicking through several menus, Ruby showed Weiss another avatar with a white color scheme.

"She's pretty," Weiss commented before sneaking another glance at Blake, who'd yet to lose her frown. Ruby's giggle, however, distracted her from dwelling on that issue for too long. "What?" she asked instead, finding Ruby particularly amused about something.

"You think she's pretty," Ruby replied while lifting up the scroll.

"And...?"

"She is," Ruby answered matter-of-factly. "At least, she should be. I modeled her after you."

For several seconds, Weiss had no idea how to respond to a compliment like that? Especially when Ruby gave it so freely - so easily - with no strings attached. She wasn't trying to win favor. She wasn't trying to ingratiate herself. She just...believed that Weiss was pretty.

As a blush grew on Weiss' cheeks, she turned away from Ruby's earnest gaze and softly cleared her throat. "Thank you," she muttered while trying to think of something else to say. Should she elaborate on her gratitude? Or compliment Ruby in return? Unfortunately, she wasn't the most experienced with returning compliments, and blurting out 'you're pretty, too' didn't seem very composed.

Instead of saying anything, she glanced at her scroll - which had sat silent this entire time - and frowned. Still no response, and she was growing increasingly worried. It was dark out now, and not knowing what type of mood Yang was in made her particularly concerned.

Who knew what type of trouble Yang might get into? What if she was angry and went looking for a fight? What if she was upset and decided not to come back tonight? Where would she stay? Or what if she didn't know Blake was back at Beacon and was searching for her?

If Weiss didn't know where Ruby was, she would panic - she could only imagine Yang would do the same. Only Yang had the potential to be a little more...destructive.

After glancing at Blake, who still glowered at her book like it had offended her, Weiss decided not to ask. Instead, she grabbed her scroll and sent another message to Yang - 'Blake's here - where are you?' Once that was sent, she composed a second one - this one to Ruby.

'Please ask your sister where she is,' she sent, not wanting to alert Blake to what they were talking about.

The message popped up in the middle of Ruby's game, and she immediately opened it. After a quick read, she showed Weiss a second message on her screen - the message she already sent Yang, which also hadn't been responded to.

Smiling and dipping her head as thanks, Weiss went back to waiting.

Blake had to be worried too, especially when Yang didn't usually stay out this late by herself. Maybe that's why Blake hadn't gone to sleep yet - she was waiting for Yang. And maybe that's why her eyes flitted to the door as if hoping Yang would walk through at any second.

How much longer should Weiss wait before suggesting they search for their missing teammate? She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't know Yang was safe, and she doubted Blake or Ruby would be able to either. Even if Blake was upset, surely she hadn't meant for this to happen.

What a mess…

While half-heartedly watching Ruby play, Weiss glanced between her silent scroll and silent teammate every few seconds. Just when she considered that enough was enough, however, Blake noticeably stiffened and focused her gaze on her book. A few seconds later, the door opened and Yang walked into the room.

Weiss immediately sighed in relief, but Yang hardly glanced Weiss and Ruby's way before seeking out her partner.

"Blake…" she said while stepping towards Blake's bed, her voice so plaintive that it pulled at Weiss' heart. Blake, however, snapped her book shut and set it on the bedside table.

"I'm going to sleep," she told no one in particular before pulling the covers over her head and turning towards the wall.

For several long seconds, silence filled the room. Yang didn't move. She stood rooted to the floor, looking towards Blake's bed even though Blake could no longer be seen. When it became obvious that Blake's answer was final, her shoulders slumped, her head drooped, and she sighed. She wanted to talk - it was clear she wanted to talk - but Blake's response made it obvious that was the last thing that would happen right now.

Still, it looked like she might try again. She opened her mouth and nearly said something - and Weiss willed for her to do so - but, ultimately, she shut her mouth and shook her head. Only then did she turned towards Weiss, her expression hurt and searching for answers.

Sensing the silent plea, Weiss stood and gently touched Yang's elbow to lead her back into the hall. Before leaving, however, she shared a look with Ruby, and Ruby nodded. Without words, her silver eyes said that she wanted Weiss to try to make Yang feel better, and that's exactly what Weiss wanted to do. First, she needed to figure out what happened. Then, she needed to figure out how to fix it.

After grabbing a jacket and softly closing the door behind them, she motioned down the hallway and started walking. Without a word, Yang followed. With her hands in her pockets, her gaze trained on the floor, and her shoulders slumped forward, she looked nothing like the Yang everyone knew. She looked...heartbroken.

The hall was empty at this time of night, but sounds of life could be heard from each room as they passed. Yang, however, said nothing. Not in the hallway, not as they walked downstairs, not even when they passed several teams hanging out in the lobby. Normally, she hardly shut up, especially when other students were around. She would at least say hello and make a joke that everyone laughed or groaned at. Tonight, however, silence.

Weiss sometimes pleaded to higher powers for Yang to be quiet, but now she wanted the opposite - anything but the gloomy, brooding girl walking beside her. She'd rather put up with decades of bad jokes than spend another minute like this.

She never thought she cared this much. About Ruby, sure. Blake, maybe. But Yang? Yang annoyed her on a daily basis. Yang went out of the way to tease and prod and frustrate her. And Weiss loved her for it. In this stupid, ridiculous way, she felt special because Yang teased her. Not special as in 'the Schnee heiress' special, but special as in...she was important to Yang. So Yang was important to her too.

Since she wasn't sure exactly how good Blake's hearing was, she led them outside just in case. The winter air had grown a bite as evening fell, but she ignored it while pulling her jacket closer and glancing at Yang.

Still nothing. So, when she felt they were far enough away from sensitive ears, she spoke first.

"What happened?" she asked, watching Yang's reaction carefully.

"Didn't she tell you?" Yang replied, her voice lacking its usual vigor. Instead, she sounded exhausted and hollow. Defeated.

"She said you were on a date…"

"I didn't go on any date," she muttered towards the ground. "I tried to explain to her...I wanted to get him outside and ditch him, but she was convinced I wanted to go with him. So she just...left."

Hearing Yang's version of events, Weiss sighed and shook her head. It matched up with what Blake said, yet also didn't. Not when Blake's version was obscured by jealousy and fear.

"Then what have you been doing the past few hours?" Weiss asked, realizing that Yang's extended absence only gave Blake more reason to believe she went on the date after all.

"Just...walking around. Trying to clear my head."

"And have you?"

Yang sighed at the question, sending a cloud of steam billowing in front of her. "No," she said, keeping her hands in her pockets while looking up at the stars. "I don't know what I did wrong…or if I hurt her feelings. And I just feel...terrible..."

Hanging her head once again, she stared at the ground for a few seconds before sighing and scuffing her foot across a nearby pile of snow.

"We were having such a good time too. Dinner was great, she talked a lot, I thought she was having fun, then..." Thinking over the evening, she shook her head. "I told him no, but he wouldn't go away. I only wanted to get rid of him so we could enjoy the rest of the night. I thought she would understand, but…" After trailing off, she looked at Weiss, and the hurt was visible in her eyes. "She told you I went on a date?"

From Yang's tone, she didn't want to believe that was true. Weiss wished it wasn't true either - she wished Blake had given Yang more opportunity to explain or...something - but she nodded.

"Yes...she said you went on a date."

"But why would I do that when -" Pausing mid-sentence, Yang looked temporarily at a loss for words before shaking her head. "Does she think I'm like that?"

This was all wrong. Blake didn't think Yang was that type of person. Blake knew Yang adored her. She _had _to. She couldn't honestly believe that Yang would ditch _their _date for some random boy. Not when she'd looked forward to it so much. Not when she was so excited to share her evening with Blake.

Before Weiss could address any of these issues, however, she needed Yang to admit her feelings.

"Yang, what's really going on?" Weiss asked quietly, standing in front of Yang while she stared at the ground.

"It's nothing…" she whispered in return, again scuffing her toe across the snow while not looking up.

And it was silent for quite some time - long enough that Weiss decided that they'd played enough games. She'd tried a roundabout way to let them discover their feelings, but look what happened. Maybe it was time for a more direct approach.

"You like her."

She said it as a statement rather than a question because she didn't need to ask. She already knew it was true. But Yang, of course, looked up and immediately faked bravado.

"Psh...you know me, Weiss." Yang waved off the suggestion while leaning away with a fake smile that didn't meet her eyes - an unconvincing gesture that Weiss wouldn't fall for on her worst of days.

"I _do_ know you, Yang. I know you haven't so much as batted an eye at anyone but Blake since we started school. I know you've turned down dozens of dates to spend time with Blake instead. And I know you put her wants above anyone else's, except maybe Ruby's."

Faced with only a tiny fraction of the evidence Weiss had to support her claim, Yang frowned at her hands. And she stayed like that for a long time before finally letting out a big sigh.

"I'm crazy about her."

The whispered words made Weiss want to jump up and down in happiness, but she kept an impassive face while Yang wrang her hands and kept talking.

"I think she's the most incredible person I've ever met. She's smart, quirky, funny, beautiful and...at her core, she's this kind, compassionate person with big goals and dreams." Yang's words grew in confidence as she spoke, and Weiss realized that it must be nice to say these things aloud after holding them inside for so long.

"I love how much she reads," Yang continued unprompted, as if the dam had finally broken and she couldn't hold back any longer. "Especially those trashy romance novels she gets so embarrassed about. I love that adorable yawn she does each morning when she wakes up. I love knowing that even when I can't see her, she can see me."

It felt like she could follow this train of thought for hours and not run out of things to say - she seemed to feel it too, because she paused and shook her head. Then she clenched her fists and met Weiss' gaze - her lilac eyes willing Weiss to believe her.

"I love how she makes me feel, Weiss. She makes me want to be better. A better person, a better partner, sister, friend...and I want to...I want to spend every day with her, but…"

When Yang's voice broke and her eyes filled with tears, Weiss frowned and reached forward to touch her hand. She'd never seen Yang cry. Not even close. Which was good because...it made her feel awful.

"But it won't happen," Yang concluded before wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Why not?"

"Because that's what she just told me!" Yang said, making a wide motion with her hand before rubbing her eyes again. "Right before she took off - 'Things like this are why we'd never work out.' Like it was my fault that some random guy asked me out. Or my fault I couldn't get rid of him fast enough. Or...just my fault, somehow."

"How could that be your fault?" Weiss asked numbly, but Yang just shrugged and averted her gaze while mumbling "I don't know…"

This was worse than expected. Blake had finally realized that depths of her feelings, but instead of embracing them, she lashed out. She said the one thing guaranteed to hurt Yang the most. The one thing that she thought would destroy their chances at a relationship, and therefore destroy the feelings she both did and didn't want to have.

Blake got scared and hit the self-destruct button. Now, they needed to get on the same page before she walled herself off for good.

"Yang," Weiss said, reaching forward and grabbing Yang's hand. "You have to tell her how you feel."

It would work - hopefully - but Yang gave a dry laugh at the idea.

"What's the point..."

"She _needs_ to know how you feel about her."

"Why? So she can turn me down? Tell me how horrible we'd be together?" Looking downright miserable at the thought, Yang shook her head. "No thanks…"

"She won't do that." Sensing Yang's dwindling belief in the feelings she and Blake _shared_, Weiss scrambled to find words of encouragement. This was where a great Mom-ism would come in handy, but she couldn't think of one on such short notice. All she knew was that Yang couldn't give up. Blake would give up - Yang couldn't.

"Listen to me, Yang," Weiss replied, using a firm tone that finally made Yang meet her gaze. "If you like her this much, you need to let her know." Even though Yang scoffed, Weiss pressed forward - knowing she needed to convince Yang to take the leap now that Blake was shutting herself off. "You _know_ Blake's not good with this stuff. She needs you to lead the way, which means you need to leap first. I know it's scary, but...I know you can do it."

After staring at Weiss for a long time, seriously considering the advice, Yang slowly shook her head.

"I don't know, Weiss...I just...I don't know…"

Reaching out, Weiss gently squeezed Yang's shoulder.

"Take tonight to think about it," she suggested. "And try not to beat yourself up too much about it. You can't help that some stranger ruined your evening."

"Yeah…" Looking at the ground, Yang scuffed her toe one more time before shaking her head. "You know, I really thought tonight was..." She paused, and Weiss waited for it - the word neither Yang nor Blake wanted to use. "The start of something," she concluded with a sigh. "Couldn't have been more wrong."

Weiss could say the same thing. She really thought tonight was the start of something great for them. Instead…

Apparently, Blake hadn't been ready. Or...something. Whatever went through her head, she reacted strongly and negatively. Now, all Weiss could do was hope Yang still had it in her to try yet again. But after the incident in the forest and now tonight, Weiss couldn't blame her if she didn't want to. How many times could she run into Blake's walls before giving up?

"I don't think you were wrong." Reaching out, Weiss set a hand on Yang's shoulder and smiled, hoping to somehow cheer her up. "I think you were just...unlucky."

When Yang scoffed at the idea of this being nothing more than dumb luck, Weiss looked around the dark campus before motioning towards their dorm.

"Think you're ready to go back now?" she asked, although she was prepared to stay out here longer if Yang didn't feel like returning to the room. But Yang glanced that way before nodding once.

"Sure, why not," she mumbled before falling into step by Weiss' side and trudging back to the room. Her aura was broken, defeated, and unlike anything Weiss had ever felt from her before.

And that scared her. What if this entire crusade to get Blake and Yang together was a huge mistake? What if they simply weren't ready to take that step, even though it looked like they were? What if they _were_ ready, but she somehow messed it up by meddling?

What if Yang spent the rest of the year heartbroken because of her? Could she ever forgive herself for something like that?

When Yang held the door open, Weiss smiled and tried not to show the panic edging into her veins. She couldn't think like that right now though. She could fix this. She could convince Yang and Blake to talk, especially now that they _had_ to talk or risk hurting their partnership.

But first, everyone needed to take the night to calm down and decompress. Once they slept off the rush of bad feelings, they could reassess the situation and determine what needed to be fixed. She _wanted _to force the two of them into a small room and demand they wrap their heads around the idea that they _both _wanted to be together, but she didn't see that going well right now. Not with Blake determined not to talk and Yang too heartbroken to.

"It'll be ok," she whispered, both to herself and to Yang before they walked back into the room. The moment they stepped inside, Yang's gaze went to Blake's bed - where Blake was still stubbornly burrowed under the covers. When even more hurt filled Yang's eyes, Weiss squeezed her shoulder one more time.

"Tomorrow," she whispered, and Yang nodded once before trudging into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

The way she hung her head hurt Weiss' heart.

Feeling someone grasp her hand, Weiss looked over and found Ruby giving her an intent look. As always, Ruby sensed that something was wrong. Even if she didn't fully understand what was going on, she knew that Weiss needed support and was willing to give it.

"Wanna watch a movie with me?" she offered, and pulled Weiss over to sit down as soon as she nodded. She needed something to take her mind off the brewing storm across the room. Not just the storm, but the role she played in creating it.

It was supposed to be a date. The two of them were supposed to get back from the concert and be so sickeningly cute that she regretted helping them. Instead, Yang walked out of the bathroom with that same defeated posture and hardly glanced over to say "goodnight" before pulling herself up onto her bed.

"What do you want to watch?" Ruby whispered so as not to bother their teammates. "Pick anything you want."

Picking anything wasn't a power Ruby granted often, mostly because she didn't want to watch another 'boring' documentary like the one Weiss chose the first time. If she was putting her sanity at risk to make Weiss feel better...she must be reading the situation as critically bad.

It felt like it was.

"Can you pick?" Weiss asked while leaning into Ruby's side for comfort. She didn't feel like using her mind right now, even though it wouldn't stop racing.

"Ok." Not arguing with the change in circumstances, Ruby pulled up a screenful of movies and narrowed their options down to an eclectic mix that included everything from action to adventure to historical fiction. From there, she went through each title one-by-one and mumbled a few words to herself before either removing it or moving on. After several rounds of this, she selected what looked like a comedy, much to Weiss' relief. They could use some humor right now.

"You wanna share with me?" Ruby whispered while grabbing a pair of headphones and offering Weiss one of the earpieces.

"Sure." Taking the right one from Ruby's hand, Weiss put it in her ear and pulled the covers over both of their legs. Once tucked in, she scooted down and leaned her head on Ruby's shoulder while the previews began to play. After drawing in a deep breath filled with the scent of roses, she let it out in one big sigh.

Ruby's company made her feel better, even though her heart hurt right now. Really, she just wanted to wrap Ruby in a hug, burrow into her shoulder, and wait for things to blow over. But this...this was good enough, for now. Actually…

Reaching over, she wrapped her hand around Ruby's and smiled when Ruby didn't move. This was even better.

The movie started then, drawing all of Ruby's attention but only half of Weiss'. While listening to the characters on the screen, she couldn't help comparing Yang and Blake's night to her and Ruby's. What if, in the midst of the two of them having such a great time, something like that happened? What if, hypothetically, some stranger showed up and kept flirting with Ruby? How would Weiss feel about the interruption?

She wouldn't like it. And if Ruby decided to leave with them - decided that she'd rather spend time with some stranger - Weiss would be...crushed. Really, really hurt. And she would probably lash out, just like Blake did. In the midst of having such a good time, when they so rarely got such great quality time together, it made sense. It wasn't a great response, but...it made sense.

Understanding Blake's reaction didn't make her feel much better though. Not when Yang was the one who had to suffer the consequences.

The worst part was that it should have worked. Everything had lined up perfectly. Blake was ready to admit her feelings - or was at least open to listening to them. Yang had always been ready. All they needed was _one _night. One night to get on the same page. One night to see how great they were together.

They could still get there. Weiss had to believe that they could still become that amazing, adorable couple she caught glimpses of so frequently. It would be harder than expected, but this single, random event couldn't derail their feelings...could it?

Hopefully, Blake would be in a better frame of mind tomorrow...and hopefully, Yang was willing to put her heart out there one more time.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning was different. Warmer. Softer. And the sleep Weiss got felt extraordinarily restful, like the sleep after a vigorous day of training only without the sore muscles to go with it. The moment she opened her eyes, she realized why this morning was different.

Ruby had fallen asleep in Weiss' bed.

Tucked near the wall and still sleeping, Ruby looked so peaceful that Weiss nearly 'aww'd at the sight, but kept that thought to herself so as not to disturb the moment. She'd seen Ruby sleep before - Ruby loved naps, after all - but this was her first opportunity to observe the cuteness so closely.

Widely known for her boundless energy and effusive speed, this was a side of Ruby that very few had the honor of seeing. This was Ruby recharging - slowly rebuilding the energy she would exhaust during the day. This was Ruby without the responsibilities of team leader or the goals of a future huntress destined for greatness.

This was Ruby in her most basic, most vulnerable state - and Weiss was one of the few deemed worthy enough to see it. Not just witness it, but lay right there beside her...

When a soft sigh slipped through Ruby's lips, Weiss resisted the urge to reach over and run her hand through Ruby's hair. Ruby's hair was soft and light, like the best of downs...

That dalliance disappeared, however, when she heard the sounds of someone else waking up. As soon as she turned away from Ruby, reality dropped like a bucket of cold water on her head.

Yang grabbed her scroll and checked for messages while still laying in bed. After a quick glance, however, she dropped the device onto the covers and sighed. Without asking, Weiss knew what she'd hoped for - a message from Blake - and she quickly understood why.

They weren't the first ones up today, as Blake's bed was already empty and she was nowhere to be seen. Based on how last night went, she must have slipped out early this morning without any of them hearing.

Her absence was another bad sign. After a night to think about the situation and calm down, she still decided that avoidance was the best course of action. Avoidance of Yang, of talking, of any type of communication.

While Weiss watched, Yang kicked off her covers and jumped down from her bed. Her gaze immediately went to Blake's bed, and she confirmed it was empty with another sigh. Only then did she look at Weiss and manage a small smile before heading into the bathroom.

Sitting up with a sigh of her own, Weiss watched the bathroom door close before frowning at her hands. She'd never considered herself a very empathetic person, but her heart hurt for Yang. For Blake too, because Blake was reacting from a place of fear that Weiss understood all too well. Fear of opening up. Fear of getting too close. Fear of being vulnerable only to get hurt.

Hearing rustles from beside her, she looked over and smiled at the first glimpse of sleepy silver.

"Good morning," she whispered while Ruby blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"Morning..." A yawn slipped out, which succeeded in making Weiss yawn before she shook the sleep away. "We don't have anything to do today, right?" Ruby's voice was muffled as she burrowed into Weiss' pillow, which Weiss snatched away so she wouldn't go back to sleep.

"We should get up anyway."

"But whyyy..." Ruby whined, flopping on her side and pouting up at Weiss. The pout was adorable, and Weiss might have acquiesced under different circumstances. Today, however, they had a problem to solve. Before she came up with a response, however, Yang walked into the room and halfheartedly tossed her clothes towards the hamper.

"Bathroom's free," she mumbled before pulling herself up to her bed and grabbing her scroll.

Just like that, Ruby sat up. After giving Yang a long look, she turned to Weiss, who nodded to silently say 'yes, _that's_ why we should get up.' Thankfully, Ruby understood. But she always understood when it came to helping someone in need.

"You wanna go first?" she whispered, and Weiss nodded before getting out of bed and grabbing her outfit for the day.

Ruby popped out of bed right after, and as Weiss walked into the bathroom, she glanced over her shoulder in time to see Ruby hop up onto Yang's bed. Relieved that Ruby was working some of her sisterly magic on Yang, Weiss still rushed through her morning routine while trying to come up with a solution.

The situation felt out of her control. She hated when situations felt out of her control, but what could she do? Blake refused to talk, Yang looked heartbroken, and, with classes starting in just a couple of days, there was hardly any time to fix this.

Somehow, she needed to get Blake and Yang to talk. Alternatively, she could track down the insolent male responsible for ruining her perfect plans and give him a firm scolding. While that course of action seemed a little unreasonable, it also felt like the only solution that would make her feel better right now.

Shelving that idea for now, she walked out of the bathroom and found Ruby snuggled into Yang's side showing off Grimm Bashers on her scroll. Even though Yang still looked sad, she accepted her sister's presence because - as Ruby put it - she 'kind of had to.'

Weiss had always envied their closeness, but that envy wasn't nearly what it used to be. It was a little hard to be jealous when she knew that Ruby would do the same for her if she ever needed it.

"And then you..." Ruby mused while hastily tapping the screen. Then, her eyes widened and her taps grew faster - so fast they were nearly untrackable - before she squealed and ceased her efforts. When the device made a sad sound, Yang actually chuckled.

"And then you die?" she asked as Ruby sighed.

"I'm getting better, I swear!"

"Uh huh..."

Having succeeded in getting Yang to laugh, Ruby smiled at Weiss before jumping down and hurrying into the bathroom to get changed. The moment Ruby disappeared, however, Yang's gloomy aura returned.

"Good morning," Weiss said, but Yang simply nodded in response instead of saying anything. From the way she tapped the side of her scroll against the palm of her hand, she was waiting for a message - or hoping for a message.

Not knowing what else to say, Weiss sat at her desk and waited for Ruby to get ready. She _wanted _to assure Yang that Blake would message soon, but she couldn't do that when she didn't believe it herself. If Blake was determined to freeze someone out, she would. But she couldn't do that to Yang, could she?

She couldn't - Weiss was certain of that. But...she didn't know how long this silence might last, so she couldn't offer any consolation. Instead, she sat at her desk and counted the seconds until Ruby finished getting ready and offered an excuse to talk again.

Fortunately, Ruby was fast. She raced into the room several minutes later and immediately made a ruckus finding her scroll and putting on her shoes. If Weiss had to guess, the silence made her equally uncomfortable - a feeling she combated by creating extra noise on her own.

Normally, Weiss might mind. Today, however, any sound was better than letting the gloomy atmosphere remain intact.

"We're going to get breakfast!" Ruby announced, glancing at Weiss for approval before looking at Yang. "Wanna come with us?"

"You go ahead. I'll just hang out here."

When Ruby frowned at the response, Weiss realized that she had to bring up the topic no one had touched yet - their missing teammate. They couldn't just leave without acknowledging Blake's absence. Doing so felt...wrong.

"Do you think we should look for her?" she suggested before both she and Ruby turned to Yang for an answer. But Yang shook her head and opened up a magazine instead.

"What's the use? If she doesn't want to be found, she won't be found. Only thing we can do is wait for her to come back."

Weiss shared a look with Ruby - both of them equally concerned by the lackluster response. She'd never seen Yang so...disheartened...before, like her internal fire had been extinguished. It was unnerving and...just didn't feel right.

"Ok…" Weiss agreed because it felt like Yang left no room for argument. "Then we'll...see you later."

She followed Ruby to the door and dawdled before leaving the room, hoping Yang would change her mind. When she did nothing but mutter "see you" instead, Weiss exchanged another look with Ruby before they closed the door behind them.

This wasn't how Weiss expected the morning to start. While watching the movie with Ruby last night, she thought they would have an awkward and silent morning where Blake continued to avoid eye contact and speaking. She hadn't expected Blake to be gone.

"Do you know what's for breakfast?" she asked while they headed towards the cafeteria, knowing that her partner had the menu memorized by now.

"We can't get breakfast now!"

Surprised by the response, she turned and gave Ruby a look.

"Why not?"

"Because we need to fix this!" Reaching out, Ruby grabbed Weiss' hands and gave them a shake. "We can't end winter break with Yang and Blake sad or mad or whatever at each other."

"I agree, but...how do we fix it?"

For the first time since the beginning of break, Weiss was at a loss for what to do. After her 'genius' concert-date idea blew up in her face, she'd lost her confidence in helping her teammates get together. So not only had they effectively forfeited The Winter Challenge, but she failed her personal challenge as well. She didn't care much about The Winter Challenge, but Blake and Yang…

"Well…" Releasing just one of Weiss' hands, Ruby tapped her chin. "First, we need to find Blake."

Weiss scoffed at the mere suggestion of 'finding' Blake anywhere.

"And _how_ do you suggest we do that?"

"We look for her!"

"Another scavenger hunt?" she mused, and Ruby grinned.

"But this one is _way_ harder than the first."

While Weiss' confidence was still severely bruised, Ruby's energy rejuvenated her determination. They could fix this. It was only a miscommunication, and what was the best way to fix a miscommunication? _Communication_. Blake and Yang needed to talk this out, which they couldn't do if Blake was missing. So find Blake, convince her to come back, then let the two of them talk in private. It was the only option at this point.

"You're right," Weiss agreed with a nod. "We need to find her and get her to talk to Yang."

"That's the plan!" With their objective set, Ruby furrowed her brow and looked around. "Now we just need to think of the most obscure places at Beacon..."

While Ruby searched for inspiration, Weiss shook her head.

"If we can think of them, they aren't very obscure," she pointed out before her gaze fell upon the forest in the distance. Just looking at it put a foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Blake wouldn't go into the forest alone...would she?"

"No."

Weiss had nearly convinced herself that yes - yes, Blake would go into the forest alone - but Ruby's definitive answer gave her reason to pause.

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I asked her not to go in there alone," Ruby replied with a serious expression. "And she promised she wouldn't. She wouldn't break a promise."

Moments like these proved just how good of a leader Ruby was, as she thought of contingencies that others wouldn't have the foresight to address. Blake _would_ hide in the forest, putting herself in harm's way doing so. But she wouldn't break a promise, especially not one to Ruby. By seeing that possibility and addressing it in advance, Ruby kept Blake safe - although Blake probably didn't see it that way.

"Ok," Weiss agreed. "Unless she took an airship to Vale...which I don't think she would do...she's here somewhere." Looking around Beacon's sprawling campus, she sighed and shook her head. "It will only take us a month to find her."

"If we put our heads together, I'm sure we can do it! We just need to come up with a list of places to search." Ruby rubbed her hands together and pursed her lips. "Do you know any of her hiding places?"

"Doesn't it defeat the purpose of a hiding place if we know about it?"

After making a face, Ruby went back to thinking. "Then where do we start...?"

"First, we should think of _possible _places she might've gone," Weiss replied while a plan spun into being. "If you were Blake, with her skillset, where would you hide?"

"Umm..." After thinking about the question for a few seconds, Ruby stumbled across the answer, which Weiss saw from the excited gleam that sprang into her eyes. "Somewhere super dark or super high!"

"And super quiet," Weiss added, knowing that the only reason Blake disappeared was so she could think, which meant she would seek out quiet to think in.

Gasping with an idea, Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand and dragged her towards Beacon's great hall.

"The dungeon!"

_Of course_ Ruby thought of the dungeon first. Equal parts fascinated and terrified by the dark, lonely room underneath the auditorium, she never missed the chance to visit it - so long as someone accompanied her. But Weiss agreed that it satisfied two of their three conditions - dark and quiet. Students rarely went down there. Even if they did, it was so dark they could probably walk right past Blake without noticing her.

That didn't mean Weiss particularly enjoyed the dark, claustrophobic place...but she was willing to check it out for Blake and Yang's sake.

"I hope she's here," she muttered while Ruby pried open the door to the stairwell.

"Me too," Ruby whispered before motioning Weiss down the steps first. When Weiss gave her a look of disbelief, however, she responded with a timid smile before going first. She reached back for Weiss' hand, however, which Weiss willingly gave as they snuck down the narrow flight of stairs together.

The dungeon wasn't necessarily a scary place - Beacon used it to store excess classroom furniture - but it was cramped, poorly lit, and covered in cobwebs. That, and the upperclassmen loved to tell ghost stories about it, some of which were quite chilling.

"So creepy…" Ruby whispered as they neared the bottom of the stairwell.

"You're the one who suggested this..."

"Because she wouldn't think we'd ever look here," Ruby replied as they exited the stairwell and looked around the cluttered room with perpetually-broken lights.

Rumor said that one of the ghosts haunting this place hated lights, so broke them whenever the staff replaced the bulbs. the upperclassmen probably got a kick out of that, but eventually the school decided to stop wasting money and left the room without working lights. Without working fixtures, the only light they had to see by was from the doorway they'd used to enter, which faded to nothing before reaching the edges of the room.

After letting their eyes adjust, Ruby crept forward while still holding Weiss' hand. Meanwhile, Weiss searched for signs of life but saw only stacks and stacks of old furniture.

"Blake?" she called out softly, hoping that their missing teammate might let them know she was there. She wouldn't just let them pass and not say anything, would she?

"Blaaakeee…" Ruby called from up front while leading them further into the darkness. With every step, it became harder to see, but still they continued.

"I don't think she's here…" While glancing towards the light of the stairwell, Weiss didn't notice that Ruby had suddenly stopped walking and ran right into the back of her.

"Ow - Ruby -"

"Shhh…" Ruby reached back and covered Weiss' mouth. "Do you hear that?" When Ruby dropped her hand from Weiss' mouth, Weiss slowed her breathing and searched for a noise in the silence.

There it was - a rummaging sound on their left near the far corner of the room. And, if Weiss listened closely enough, she thought she heard a voice. A soft, indistinguishable voice muttering in the darkness.

"Let's get out of here," she whispered, but Ruby grabbed her hand to keep her from running back up the steps.

"Is someone there?" Ruby called out. "Blake? Is that you?"

The sounds abruptly stopped, and Weiss gave Ruby's arm another tug but Ruby didn't budge. Suddenly, footsteps raced around a stack of desks, moving right towards them.

"Hey guys!"

When a dark, unidentifiable figure leapt towards them, Weiss screamed.

In surprise, not fear.

The sound had hardly faded away before she recognized the person standing in front of them, and embarrassment rapidly replaced her surprise.

"Nora?" Ruby asked while the girl grinned at them.

"What are you doing down here?" Weiss added while clinging to Ruby's arm and waiting for the shock to wear off. Her heart would start beating again, eventually...

"Lookin' for something!" Not at all perturbed by their reaction to her presence, Nora raised her hand and revealed a silver key identical to the ones they'd collected in the forest. "Found another one!"

"They hid keys down here?" Ruby asked in surprise.

"Pretty sure they hid some everywhere!" Nora replied before bounding up the steps. "See ya!"

As Nora left the dungeon behind, Weiss frowned and tried to decide what annoyed her more - that there were secret challenges not listed in the directions, or that Nora, of all people, was somehow figuring them out on her own.

"Well..." Ruby said while turning to Weiss, who abruptly realized she was still clutching Ruby's arm and finally let go. "If Blake _was _here, I'm pretty sure she would've laughed when you screamed."

"I didn't scream." When Ruby gave Weiss a look, she sighed and headed upstairs. "Fine, I...yelped, a little."

"Your yelp sounds an awful lot like a cute, girly scream."

"Shush," she said, but smiled when Ruby giggled behind her.

_Maybe_ she screamed a little, but that seemed like a normal reaction when tiptoeing around a dark, supposedly-empty dungeon and hearing what was almost certainly a ghost.

By the time they left the horrible cellar behind in favor of the bright morning sun, she could chuckle at their most recent adventure. Still, she was glad only Ruby witnessed it. Well, Ruby and Nora, who would either forget entirely or remember and bring it up at the most embarrassing moment possible.

"Guess we can mark that off the list," Weiss muttered, looking around campus before meeting Ruby's gaze. "Maybe we should check the library next…"

She didn't want to say that Nora scared the living ghost out of her, but her heart still hammered in her chest from the fright. That, combined with the dungeon's general aura of foreboding, had her wishing that Blake chose somewhere near civilization as her hiding place today.

"You mean the libraries?"

Sighing at the plural response, Weiss set off in the direction of the nearest one.

"We're going to check _every _one, aren't we..."

"We'll never find her if we're not thorough," Ruby replied while catching up to Weiss and again taking her hand. After glancing at their joined hands, Weiss nodded.

While she agreed with Yang's decision - sit still and wait for Blake to return - she found merit in Ruby's way of thinking. They _couldn't _let Blake come back on her own accord, because she would only do that after coming to her own conclusion. And that conclusion might very well be that she would _never_ pursue a relationship with Yang _ever_. That was exactly what they didn't need.

The libraries, unfortunately, were equally unhelpful. Since break ended in a couple of days, everyone finally decided to work on their projects due in the upcoming week. Basically...every library was far busier than expected.

"No way she's here…" Ruby muttered while looking around yet another crowded room. Not only was it busy, but it was also louder than normal, which would make Blake stay away.

"Well, we knew this would be hard." Still holding Ruby's hand, Weiss pulled her partner out of the building and along the paths they'd been walking for hours now. Honestly, she was surprised she couldn't hear Ruby's stomach grumbling by this point.

"Maybe we should search the high places next," Ruby suggested while they walked across the quad.

"Where do we start?"

"How about...oh! Let's start at The Tower."

"Good idea," Weiss agreed while leading them that way.

The Tower was aptly named, as it towered above Beacon. As the tallest building on campus, it was the highest point Blake could reach. Even if she wasn't there, which she probably wasn't, maybe they could spot her from the balcony.

"I hope we can find her..." Weiss mused as they headed towards The Tower's entrance. For some reason, she suspected that the longer Blake and Yang were apart, the worse this misunderstanding became. The mind could play horrible tricks when left to its own devices, and she didn't want to imagine what they must be thinking right now.

It wasn't a mistake - their feelings were real. This was just...a bump in the road. A very big bump in the road.

"We'll find her." For extra reassurance, Ruby squeezed Weiss' hand. "Don't worry. We'll look all day if we have to."

The response was comforting, and Weiss wondered why she hadn't looped Ruby into this endeavor earlier. For whatever reason, she felt like romance was the furthest thing from Ruby's mind - maybe because it was the furthest from her own. That was potentially an incorrect assumption.

Ruby was mature in unexpected ways. While she insisted on watching silly cartoons and drinking milk every day, she also understood the intricacies of working with and leading others.

Weiss, for one, would follow her anywhere.

Upon entering the building, they took the elevator as far as it would go before using the stairwell for the last few flights of stairs. When Weiss pushed open the door to the rooftop, a gust of wind tore the handle from her hand and slammed the door against the wall. The resulting loud bang made her cringe, then a cold blast of air made her shiver.

"It's cold up here," she said, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth.

Cold, and deserted. Blake wasn't hiding here today.

"Maybe we can see her." Hurrying to the railing, Ruby leaned over and searched for any sign of their teammate. After pulling her coat tighter, Weiss joined Ruby by the edge of the building and looked for Blake.

From here, they could see a good portion of Beacon. But when Blake was just one small, stealthy person…

"See anything?" Ruby asked while scanning the buildings in the distance.

"No..."

Maybe if Weiss had a pair of binoculars, she could spot Blake, or spot a _clue_ of where Blake might be. Unfortunately, all she saw were empty rooftops and students carrying about their lives on the sidewalks below.

Sighing at the lack of progress, she turned away from the railing and led the way back down. A growing part of her said that they should give up and go home. Sure, she had a relationship to fix. Sure, Blake and Yang might not work this out on their own. But what was she supposed to do when she couldn't find half of the couple she wanted to help create?

When they made it back to the quad, she stopped and sighed. Her legs were tired. She was hungry, which meant Ruby must be famished. They were no closer to finding Blake, and they were running out of places to search. What began as a somewhat hopeful quest now felt futile and pointless. Beacon was too large for them to search everywhere, and Blake was capable of avoiding detection for years if she wanted to.

"Maybe we should go back?" Ruby offered after they stood there for several minutes. "She'll come home eventually..."

Biting her lip and looking around, Weiss considered accepting that option but couldn't escape the bad feeling it left her with. What decision would Blake come to by then, and how determined would she be to see it through?

After what happened, Weiss couldn't imagine that Blake would decide to pursue her feelings for Yang again. Not without a friendly nudge and reminder of how great they were together. And if Weiss and Ruby couldn't find her, how could they give her that nudge? But what was the point of searching all day if they would never find her anyway? She would only be found if she wanted to be found.

When Weiss turned back to Ruby - ready to give up and go home - her eyes caught something on the rooftop of a nearby classroom building. From this distance, it looked like nothing more than a black speck, but it was a black speck that didn't belong.

"You're kidding me..." Weiss breathed out. The response drew Ruby's attention, and she turned around to see what Weiss was looking at.

"Is that…?"

"Who else could it be?" Weiss replied. "Can you get Yang?"

After giving the rooftop one more glance, Ruby nodded and ran off to find her sister while Weiss hurried towards the building. The closer she drew, the clearer it became that it _was_ Blake sitting out on the rooftop by herself. What wasn't immediately clear was why she picked a spot so easily visible from one side of campus, but a theory formed in Weiss' mind as she rushed into the elevator and prodded it to the top floor.

Blake couldn't be found unless she wanted to be found. Yet they found her. Could that mean that, even in the midst of her self-exile, she _wanted _someone to find her? She wanted someone to talk her away from the ledge she found herself on? If so, maybe there was hope.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Weiss found the closest window and pushed it open. She then hopped onto the rooftop, made sure she had her balance, and walked over to Blake.

"You know how to pick a hiding spot," she said while sitting beside Blake on the rooftop. When Blake didn't respond, Weiss looked over and saw that she looked exhausted - the bags under her eyes suggesting she hadn't slept at all last night.

"Planning on coming down soon?" Weiss asked, trying to start some kind of conversation. "You missed breakfast."

Again Blake didn't respond, so Weiss sighed.

Grimm, Blake could be such a stick in the mud sometimes...

"Yang's worried about you, you know."

"Is she," Blake finally said, her voice dull and disbelieving.

"Of course she is," Weiss retorted, irritated that Blake would ever imply that Yang didn't care. Blake could have told Yang to jump off a cliff and she would _still_ care just as much, if not more, than she had before. She was that type of person - and Blake _knew_ this.

But she responded with more silence. Whatever was bothering her, she couldn't get her mind off of it. Weiss understood the dwelling, obsessive nature, and she knew how harmful it could be when left unchecked. Fortunately, that's where friends came in.

As much as this bothered Blake, she needed to talk about it. She needed to get it out in the open and face it rather than let it fester in her mind.

"What's wrong, Blake?" Weiss finally asked, hoping that Blake considered her a close enough friend that she would be willing to talk. "Yesterday, you two were the picture of happy. Now you won't even talk to her?"

After taking a big breath, Blake let it out in a sigh and said nothing. When that was the end of the response, Weiss thought maybe they _weren't_ close enough - that Blake wouldn't share these thoughts with her. And that was...fine, although a little hurtful.

Then Blake turned to look at her, and Weiss felt her heart fill with sadness when she saw Blake's red-rimmed eyes.

"I guess...I just...really didn't like that he kept asking her out, and she...didn't seem very opposed to it..."

While not a complete response, it was a step in the right direction.

"Why not?" Weiss prodded, trying to sound impartial even though she already knew the answer. But it didn't matter if she knew the answer - _Blake_ needed to learn the answer.

But Blake shrugged and turned away.

"It's...hard to say."

She could _say that again_. It was pretty difficult to fall in love with your partner if you _refused_ to admit that you were in love with them.

"I'm willing to listen," Weiss offered. "I know it might be hard to explain, but...I have time."

After trying everything else, this was all she had left to give - her time, her willingness to listen, and her best efforts to help. It might not be much, but...she hoped it was enough to get Blake through this.

Clenching her hands, Blake sighed and looked up at the clouds.

"I guess that...after talking to you, I finally let myself think that we could...be together. So when some random guy threatened that…" Sighing again, Blake closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't want anyone else to have her. And I was so caught up in how it felt like a real date that I...I snapped when he crashed into my perfect night. By the time I got home, I was so upset at myself for reacting that way that I just...shut down…"

That sounded like a more accurate depiction of what happened last night, and Weiss actually felt proud of Blake for coming to that determination on her own. Now, to help her get over those feelings...

"You should talk to her," Weiss gently prodded. "She had no plans of going out with him anyway."

"Really?"

"_Yes_," Weiss said with a wave of one hand, as if that should be common knowledge. "I can't even imagine Yang dating a guy, can you? I mean, she hasn't shown any interest in the guys at school, so it'd be weird for her to suddenly change her mind."

Yang hadn't shown interest in _anyone_ but Blake since they got to Beacon. If only Blake could see that…

"She can't read your mind," Weiss added. "No matter how hard she tries. You have to trust her enough to tell her the truth. Trust that, no matter what, telling her the truth won't change how she feels about you. If anything, letting her know might bring you two closer together."

It would bring them a _lot _closer if Blake would just admit her feelings. Knowing that Yang was already there - willing to make that admission - they only needed to get Blake on board.

"I guess I'm just...scared…"

"That's normal," Weiss assured her. "But wouldn't telling her be better than this?" She gestured towards their lonely spot on the rooftop, and Blake looked around before staring at her hands.

"Do you think she'll even forgive me?" she whispered to her palms. "After what I just did?"

"Without hesitation." Hearing the certainty in Weiss' voice, Blake looked up - and Weiss nodded. "I'm positive she will," she added. And she _was _positive about that. It wasn't in Yang's nature to hold onto things like this, and she wouldn't start doing so with someone she cared so much about.

And Blake looked at Weiss for a long time, searching her eyes for confirmation before nodding once and falling silent.

On the cusp of adding a few more words of encouragement, Weiss paused when a sound reached her ears and drew her attention to the side of the building. The next second, Yang pulled herself onto the roof with a huff of effort.

"Grimm..." she panted while pushing herself to her feet. "Only my partner...would choose the _tallest_ freaking building…"

"This isn't even the tallest building," Weiss pointed out while Yang walked over and sat down nearby. "And you could've used the elevator."

Yang's eyes widened at the response, apparently unaware of the easier route, but then she waved off the oversight.

"Weiss...think Blake and I can talk?"

Sensing it was time to take her leave, Weiss nodded and headed back to the window - and not over the side of the building like a crazy person. She didn't go inside, however, without first sending Blake a pointed look saying that _this_ would be the opportune moment to tell Yang the truth.

Blake gave a miniscule nod before Yang turned her way and gave a nervous smile.

"Hey," Yang led with, and Weiss smiled while ducking through the window and taking the elevator back downstairs. _Now_ they would have the conversation - she was almost certain of it. Of course, she'd been certain before only to end up wrong, but this time felt...different.

As soon as she walked out of the building, she found Ruby waiting for her.

"Yang found you guys?"

"Yes." Reaching out for Ruby's hand, Weiss smiled when Ruby returned the gesture and the two of them walked away from the building. "Was it your idea for her to climb the building?"

"I thought it'd give you more time to talk to Blake," Ruby admitted, and Weiss' smile grew. She really did have the smartest partner...

Once they were a little further away, Weiss turned around and squinted to see their teammates on the rooftop. Yang's vibrant yellow hair contrasted with Blake's jet black, making them easy to pick out while they had the conversation they'd avoided for quite some time.

"Hope they're patching things up..." Ruby mused while they watched their teammates from a distance.

"I think they will."

It looked like a serious conversation, or at least an honest one. Grimm knows they needed both. They just needed to talk, and Blake just needed to accept her feelings…

When Yang reached over and touched Blake's elbow, Weiss' interest peaked. The two of them then moved closer, and closer, and then -

Ruby gasped while Weiss smiled.

"Did they just kiss?" Ruby asked in a hushed whisper.

"Yes, yes they did," Weiss replied, adding 'finally' in her head while their teammates _finally_ got on the same page. Finally gave in to their feelings. And finally kissed. "Come on, let's give them privacy," she whispered before leading Ruby away.

"Did you know?!"

Weiss smiled at the disbelief and mentally prepared to explain everything while getting Ruby her much-delayed and much-deserved breakfast.

"I had an idea," she admitted, feeling her heart expand with happiness when she realized that they did it - they finally did it. Blake and Yang figured it out. At least, they figured out that they liked each other. There would be much more for them to figure out in the future, but for now...she was so happy for them both.

Mission successful, with time to spare. She was ready to receive her A+ in matchmaking now.


	13. Chapter 13

When Weiss woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that Ruby wasn't beside her...which was oddly disappointing. But also fine. Sure, the bed wasn't as warm or comfortable as the night before, but she didn't mind sleeping alone. She'd slept alone for her entire life, so it wasn't as if this was a new occurrence. After experiencing the difference between having a bedmate and not, however…

Ruby could sleep wherever she pleased. Her bed, Weiss' bed...the choice was really up to her. Maybe Weiss just needed to make that option a little more clear…

While pondering _how _exactly to make that known, she stumbled across a reminder of what happened the day before and smiled as she processed the second big difference about today.

She wasn't the first one up, as evidenced by the soft voices drifting across the room.

"Maybe next weekend," Yang whispered. When Weiss peeked that way, she found Yang and Blake awake and cuddled together on their bed.

"If we don't have too much work to do," was Blake's quiet response, to which Yang softly chuckled and pulled Blake closer.

"When do we _not_ have too much work?" she pointed out. "But ok. If we're not too busy, we'll try to go?"

"That sounds nice," Blake murmured while melting even further into Yang's arms. Even her _voice _sounded happy - something Weiss wouldn't have thought possible if she hadn't just heard it with her own ears.

"It _does_ sound nice, and I think we've earned it."

"Of course you do…" Blake replied with a quiet laugh.

Realizing they could carry on like this forever, Weiss pushed her covers out of the way and sat up, drawing their attention away from each other.

"Good morning," she said, and she couldn't help but smile at how darn cute and happy they looked.

_Finally_. After spending far too long imagining what this day would be like, she had to admit it was better than expected. Blake and Yang were embarking on a new journey together while also proving that romance worked - that two people from vastly different backgrounds could find their way together. Of course, Weiss' feelings would probably change when they started demanding the room to themselves or became excessively fond of PDA, but...those were problems for the future.

"Good morning, Weiss," Blake replied, sitting up and looking immediately saddened by the loss of Yang's warmth. "We didn't wake you, did we?"

"Not at all." After getting out of bed, Weiss grabbed her outfit for the day and sent the lovebirds a smile. "I hope you got _some_ sleep though."

Yang's chuckle was more than enough of an answer, as was the subtle way Blake's ears moved. But, for as little sleep as they got, it was impossible to tell. They were practically glowing with happiness right now.

Satisfied with her success, which was far and away better than winning some combat room, Weiss smiled and walked over to Ruby's pillow. Her smile grew just seeing Ruby, who was adorably burrowed into her blankets with her hair tousled in every direction.

How could she look so disheveled yet so cute at the same time?

"Ruby," she whispered to wake her partner up. That was normally the extent of their interaction, but this time she didn't immediately walk away. Instead, she stayed and watched those beautiful silver eyes blink open and lock onto her. Ruby's first glance of the day - and she was more than happy to take it.

"Good morning," she whispered, lingering longer than usual when Ruby yawned - which was also very cute.

"Morning…" Ruby mumbled while rubbing her face on her pillow. Once that was done, she smiled - looking more alert already - and Weiss headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

The Winter Challenge felt like a thing of the past. If anything, her current happiness suggested she won something.

_Technically_, she had. Against all odds, including a late curveball thrown by some random boy she would never meet, she helped her teammates conquer their reservations and admit their feelings. She wouldn't take _all_ the credit, of course, but she would take enough to mention it every once in a while. A small reference here and there - just enough to remind them that she'd contributed to their relationship in the only way she knew how. That's what friends were for, right?

Really, they should be grateful for a friend like her - someone persistent enough to conquer their stubbornness. At least, she _hoped _they were grateful for a friend like her. Or that they considered her to be a good friend at all, because that's what she tried really hard to be.

Once ready for the day, she walked out of the bathroom and discovered that Ruby had moved down to her bed. After sitting beside Ruby and sharing a smile, she watched Yang and Blake decide who would go next.

"You can go," Blake offered first, only for her smile to return when Yang shook her head.

"I think _you_ should go first today."

"And why's that?"

"Because you deserve it."

When Blake laughed and gave Yang's shoulder a playful shove, Yang grinned like she just accomplished something remarkable. Which...maybe she had. How many people could make Blake laugh like that? Still, Weiss gave an obligatory eye roll and leaned into Ruby's side to see who ended up winning the 'battle' for the bathroom.

"Are you saying I won the right to go next?" Blake added, showing no hesitation to meet Yang's gaze.

"Exactly."

"Then, as the winner, I insist you take my place."

"But you can't do that!" Yang whined when Blake smiled, knowing she just backed Yang into a corner.

"Why not? You said I won."

"Yeah, but -"

While Yang tried to find a way through Blake's verbal maze, Weiss leaned closer to Ruby and whispered, "Maybe you should get ready now…"

"Probably right," Ruby replied with a grin before grabbing her clothes from on top of the dresser. "Because they're taking _forever_ to decide," she added so Blake and Yang heard before disappearing into the bathroom in a cloud of petals.

"Looks like you just lost your turn to Ruby…" Blake murmured, and Weiss again rolled her eyes while moving to her desk.

It was annoyingly cute, but she could deal with it so long as it didn't make them late. Or, at least, as long as it didn't make them later than usual.

"Done!" Ruby announced a few minutes later. Flying back into the room, she tossed her pajamas onto her bed before leaping onto Weiss'. As soon as she settled, she grabbed her scroll and started up that game she couldn't stop playing.

On the other half of the room, Yang must have lost the battle of words, because she finally separated from Blake and grabbed a change of clothes. In the midst of walking to the bathroom, she reached down and tugged at the hem of her shirt, and had it half off before glancing over her shoulder.

Blake was smart enough to pretend like she'd been reading the entire time, but Yang still blushed and dropped her shirt back into place.

"I, uh, I'll be right back," she mumbled before rushing to the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

"Well that's unfortunate..." Blake muttered while setting down her book and finding a change of clothes.

"You get to kiss her now," Weiss pointed out, and shook her head when a blush darkened Blake's cheeks.

"I know, I just...liked watching…"

The admission was surprisingly forthcoming. How long would Blake offer her thoughts like this? Just for the time being, or was this a more long-lasting change than expected?

"Don't worry," Weiss offered as reassurance. "I'm sure her modesty will wear off in a few days."

When Blake hummed to herself and waited for her turn, Weiss realized that Yang's modesty would serve as a clear benchmark of how far the two progressed in their relationship. That wasn't exactly something Weiss needed to know, but, unfortunately, she was too observant to miss it.

Before she could sigh at the future awkwardness, however, she caught Ruby's gaze and smiled instead. Ruby looked overjoyed by their teammates' new relationship, which opened reflected how Weiss felt. When Yang walked back into the room, looked at Blake, and beamed, that feeling only grew. In a way, all four of them were embarking upon a new journey, and Weiss couldn't think of three people she'd rather be with.

While Yang sat next to Ruby and discussed whatever caught her fancy, Weiss focused on her notebook and made sure she'd accomplished everything she set out to this break. Her and Ruby's paper was done and ready to be turned in. She'd caught up on studying in her free time. She got Yang and Blake to admit their feelings. And...they hadn't _officially _won The Winter Challenge, but they'd grown closer as a team. Wasn't that the true purpose?

"Hey Weiss!" Turning towards Ruby, Weiss smiled and reached for her hand but stopped when she realized it wasn't an appropriate moment to hold hands.

"Yes?" she asked while clasping her hands in her lap instead.

"Do you wanna exchange presents now?"

That was the last item on her to-do list, and also the one that made her the most nervous. After yesterday's tumultuous morning ended happily, she finally figured out what to give Ruby - and spent the entire afternoon, evening, and well into the night creating it. She wished she had more time to make it perfect, but it reflected her feelings for her partner and...hopefully, that was enough.

So she nodded, grabbed an envelope from her desk drawer, and sat beside Ruby on the bed. In another few minutes, Blake and Yang sat across from them, each with several packages ready to be presented as gifts.

"Ok." Bouncing on the bed, Ruby grinned around the room before motioning with her hands. "Who wants to go first?"

When no one spoke for all of two seconds, Yang smiled and grabbed a small, plainly-wrapped package from beside her.

"I will," she volunteered before offering the package to Blake. "Gotta start with the best," she added while Blake accepted the present and carefully removed the paper.

While Yang watched, Blake unwrapped the book, which she recognized from the back cover.

"You remembered?" After glancing at Yang, Blake turned the book over and ran her hand across the cover.

"Of course I did…" If Yang was nervous, she didn't show it. Instead, she motioned for Blake to look closer. "Open it up."

As soon as Blake let the pages fall open, her eyes widened. She stared at the page, then looked at Yang in disbelief, then stared at the page again.

"How -?" was all she got out before turning back to Yang for an explanation.

"Called in a few favors," Yang replied with a shrug, as if spending a few extra weeks on cleaning duty was no big deal. "I hope you like it."

"Like it?" Glancing at the page once more, Blake bit her lip before closing the book and setting it in her lap. "I love it."

When Blake's gaze flicked towards Ruby and Weiss, Weiss realized what was coming next, and playfully covered Ruby's eyes while Blake leaned over and gave Yang a kiss.

"Heyyy…" Ruby whined while pushing Weiss' hand away and pouting. "I'm not a kid! I'm allowed to watch." Weiss smiled and patted Ruby's leg at the response, while Blake tried not to look embarrassed and Yang grinned like she just ate a piece of the sun.

That was quite a bold move for Blake, which made Weiss proud and simultaneously apprehensive about the future. How long would it be before she _really_ needed to cover Ruby's eyes?

"Alright, Weiss next." When Yang extended an envelope across the room, Weiss took it and gave it a glance. Whereas Blake's gift had been carefully wrapped, this was a plain, white envelope with 'Weiss' scrawled across the front. Which was about what she would expect from Yang...

Regardless, she was curious, so tore it open and pulled out several pieces of paper about the size of playing cards. Her initial thought was that Yang tore up one of her homework assignments as a joke, but then she flipped the pieces over and found a single word written on each one: 'Silence.'

"They're 'shut up' cards," Yang explained while Weiss sorted through the stack and confirmed they were all the same.

"'Shut up cards?'" she repeated before giving the scraps of paper another glance. "So...when I want you to stop talking, I just give you one of these?"

"Exactly! But you've gotta physically hand it over - you can't say like 'I'll give it to you back at the room.'"

Understanding the power and potential of such a tool, Weiss looked at the cards in disbelief. Yang might as well have handed over ten pieces of gold.

"Can I buy more?" was her first question, but Yang shook her head and winked.

"Limited edition."

Accepting that answer, Weiss looked at her gift and smiled. While it initially looked lazy on Yang's part, it was actually quite thoughtful.

"This might be the best gift I've ever received," she admitted before neatly stacking them and setting them by her side. "Thank you."

She didn't necessarily want to dwell on what it 'meant' to her and, thankfully, neither did Yang. Instead, she grabbed the last package from beside her - this one a small box - and held it out to Ruby.

"And this is for you!"

When Ruby grabbed the box, tore off the lid, and gasped in delight, Weiss leaned over to see what was inside. And frowned.

"Holy Grimm!" Ruby exclaimed while pulling out a dull, tattered knife.

"An old knife?" Weiss asked before shooting Yang a look. "Really?"

"Of course you think that," Yang replied before motioning back to Ruby, who looked like she just received a brand new weapon, not something that belonged in a dumpster.

"This is awesome!" Ruby gushed before making several quick slashes through the air. "Just look at it!"

Confused by the response, Weiss gave the blade a closer examination while Ruby looked over its finer details. It was, however, still an old, crappy knife.

"What's so special about it?" she finally asked, realizing she would never figure it out without help.

"I can take it apart!" After balancing it on her hand to test the weight, Ruby nodded and turned it over. "Then I can see how it works."

With Ruby overly excited about her new toy, Weiss gave Yang another look. Maybe there was more to her gifts than repackaging some random idea at the last minute. Maybe she knew exactly what she was doing when picking gifts for Ruby. In which case...maybe Weiss still had a ways to go before she could call herself the best gift giver for her partner.

"Where'd you get it?" Ruby asked while returning the gift to the box and replacing the lid.

"Some guy picked a fight with me. He lost - I got his knife." Yang shrugged at the response, but Blake raised her brow.

"And _why _did he pick a fight with you?"

"Because I needed a present for Ruby," Yang admitted with a growing smile. "And I knew he had a cool knife. It was fair though! I gave him the chance to win."

"He swung at you once," Blake pointed out.

"It's not my fault he sucked at fighting!" After raising her arms in feigned innocence, Yang smiled and elbowed Blake in the side. "Besides, it looked like you were ready to throw down with him too."

"I didn't like the way he looked at you," Blake replied with an air of nonchalance that made Yang laugh. And the sound of Yang's laughter made Blake smile because...of course it did.

"I'll go next," Blake volunteered before Ruby asked. She then picked up three large envelopes from beside her, each having a little red bow stuck on top. After reading the front of each, she handed them out with a simple "I got you these" before sitting back to watch.

Interested, to say the least, Weiss opened the envelope and pulled out a manila file folder with her name on the tab. Glancing around, she found that Yang and Ruby had exactly the same thing, except with their names instead of hers.

"They're your records," Blake explained while Weiss flipped open the file and found her application to Beacon sitting on top. Behind that were her course records, recommendation letters, and everything else she'd submitted as part of gaining acceptance. "I thought you'd rather have them than let Beacon hold onto them."

Blake shrugged as if it was no big deal, but Weiss had many, _many _questions.

"Why...?" she began to ask, but Yang laughed.

"This is _awesome!_" Grabbing one of the pages, she leaned over to show Ruby. "Remember my application?" she asked while Ruby giggled and held up her own, which looked conspicuously blank.

"They told me to sign a blank copy," Ruby explained before diving into the rest of her file. "I had no idea they had all this other stuff though!"

While the two sisters flipped through every page, Weiss looked at Blake again.

"But why?"

"I thought it'd be a nice...souvenir." With a shy smile, Blake pulled out a similar folder that must be her own. "A reminder of who we were...before."

Blake didn't need to say anything more than that, because Weiss now understood. She'd changed so much that it was hard to remember who she was before Beacon. One look at her application, however, was more than enough of a reminder. Her admission essays were filled with pomp and self-righteousness. Her recommendation letters carefully selected out of the many she'd requested. Her test scores superb - although she was still proud of that.

She was the center of her own universe then, but not anymore. Now...she had three people who were more important to her than herself.

"And I have something else for you," Blake told Yang before mumbling, "but I'll tell you later..."

Yang lit up at the response but didn't dive into it. Instead, she pulled Blake close and grinned like mad. Weiss, meanwhile, wrinkled her nose and tried not to think too much into the comment.

"Thank you, Blake!" Ruby said, and Weiss nodded.

"Yes, thank you. And I'm sure we don't want to know how you got these." When Weiss waved the folder and set it beside her, Blake gave a sly smile.

"You probably don't…"

"I do," Yang was quick to add. "I love hearing about my super sexy girl-" Abruptly realizing what she was about to say, Yang blushed and concluded with an unconvincing "partner…"

"Partner and girlfriend!" Ruby piped in and - swear to Grimm - Weiss considered giving her a high five right then. The blushes that rocketed onto Yang and Blake's cheeks were some of the best Weiss had ever seen, and more than worth the effort and turmoil of the week.

"Uh…" After a nervous chuckle, Yang swept her hand through her hair and glanced Blake's way.

"Yeah, I suppose so…" Blake added, much to Yang (and everyone else's) surprise.

Apparently, they'd found a different version of Blake on that rooftop, because this wasn't the same girl who ran from her feelings just the night before. That, or she was genuinely making an effort to be better for Yang, and if that wasn't the sweetest thing ever…

Realizing this was the perfect opportunity to tell Blake about her gift, Weiss gave Ruby a meaningful look before receiving a nod in return. After spending yesterday morning searching for Blake, the two of them decided upon a present for her. Considering the kiss they witnessed, it had been fairly easy to come up with something she might appreciate. If not right away, then definitely later on.

"Ruby and I have a joint gift for you, Blake," Weiss said, drawing a curious gaze her way.

"Both of you?"

"Yeah!" When Ruby grinned at Weiss, Weiss nodded for her to explain what it was. "Basically...Weiss and I plan on spending a _lot _of time together. And, uh, we plan on spending a lot of time _outside _of the room…"

When Blake caught on, her cheeks grew red, Yang's jaw dropped open, and Weiss felt pretty pleased with her and Ruby's idea. She would probably feel less pleased when they were kicked out of the room, but Ruby promised they would spend that time together, which didn't sound so bad. It actually sounded like something she wanted anyway.

"You can _politely _request that we leave," she elaborated. "As long as there's nothing pressing we need to handle..."

"And, if you give us enough notice, we can plan a trip or something!"

While that offer hadn't been discussed yesterday, Weiss shrugged and nodded in response to Ruby's happiness.

"Sure," she agreed. "But please be judicious."

Fortunately, Blake would use the power carefully, which was why they gave it to her instead of Yang.

"So...tonight?" she asked tentatively.

"Tonight, Ruby and I have dinner plans." Weiss smiled at Ruby, who beamed right back at her. "Then we'll do some training."

"We have to practice Grimm Bashers with Jaune!" Ruby added, completely ruining the implication that they might do some _real_ training. "Weiss is team captain."

That sentence sounded strange, but Weiss smiled regardless.

After looking between Ruby and Weiss one more time, likely judging how serious they were with their offer, Blake gave a small smile and said, "Thank you...that's...a really nice gift." When she looked up, Yang smiled and placed a kiss right between her ears. Then they both looked shocked and embarrassed by the display of affection, which was adorable in its own right.

How long would this awkwardness last? Hopefully for a week or two...Weiss wanted adequate time to savor this moment, especially with Yang looking far more out of sorts than usual.

"My turn!" Ruby said before turning to Weiss with large, excited eyes. And, just like that, Weiss forgot all about Yang and Blake. Instead, her focus snapped to Ruby while curiosity and excitement stirred in her chest.

Realistically, it didn't matter _what_ Ruby got for her. The fact that Ruby wanted to give her a gift at all was more than enough.

"Ok, so you're _really_ hard to think of gifts for since you can buy anything, but..." Pausing for effect, Ruby reached behind her and pulled out...Myrtenaster?

"I engraved my name on Myrtenaster!"

"_WHAT?!_"

The high-pitched screech hardly left Weiss' lips before she snatched Myrtenaster from Ruby's hands and scanned the weapon. But the more she looked, the more she found that everything was exactly the same - nothing had changed.

Looking up in confusion, Weiss was met with a sympathetic gaze.

"Sorry...that was actually my gift to Yang…."

When Ruby nodded across the room, Weiss discovered Yang nearly doubled over with laughter, clutching her sides while leaning on Blake's shoulder for support. With a smirk, Blake turned her scroll around and played the video she just recorded.

"'_WHAT?!_'" Weiss' voice shrieked through the phone, only making Yang laugh harder while Weiss stared at the screen in surprise.

"That...was..._classic!_" Yang got out between gasps for air. "I'm using that as your ringtone!"

For the life of her, Weiss couldn't figure out what just happened and how she felt about it. Before she responded, however, someone softly tapped her shoulder.

"Sorry," Ruby whispered when Weiss turned towards her. "I couldn't think of anything better to give her..."

At Ruby's apologetic expression, Weiss' annoyance quickly faded away.

"That was a good idea," she admitted, and added a smile so Ruby knew she wasn't angry. Was she angry? It didn't feel like it. If anything, she was a little impressed that Ruby crafted such an effective ploy.

Fortunately, Ruby brightened up at the response.

"But now I can give you your real gift!" she said while reaching behind her and grabbing a large white binder. "You're always saying we have too many combat moves and strategies," she continued as she handed it to Weiss. "So...I diagrammed them for you."

Eyes widening, Weiss opened the binder and found pages upon pages of Ruby's hand-drawn diagrams.

"I grouped them by situation, then terrain, then type of Grimm, and color-coded everything." While Ruby explained, Weiss turned the pages and felt her astonishment grow. Each diagram was meticulously done. Everything was titled, labeled, and separated by color. There was an index, page numbers, a glossary -

"Wow, that's like Weiss' wet dream," Yang joked, and Weiss shot her a glare before turning back to Ruby.

"Ruby..." she said, although she didn't know what else to add. It was the nicest, most thoughtful, most considerate thing anyone had ever done for her. "This must have taken forever," she added while flipping through the section filled with aerial moves.

"Eh. I mean, yes, but it didn't feel like it. I liked working on it, especially since I knew it would make you happy."

Happy was the bare minimum of what Weiss felt right now. Yang's term might actually be closer to the truth than a simple happy. She'd expected something funny or cute or useful, but this...this went above and beyond anything she could have imagined. Not only that, but the time and effort put into it was clear as day. Ruby made this for _her_. Ruby spent that time and effort creating this gift for _her._

"Thank you," she added while hugging the binder to her chest, loving the weight and feel of it. She couldn't wait to go through every page and add notes of her own. And, since it was a binder, they could add and remove pages as necessary. Although, realistically, they would never remove anything. Even if they permanently retired certain moves, she would keep the pages as a reminder of what once was. In time, she could start a _second _binder just to keep those organized...

"It's perfect," she added to no one in particular, feeling like her heart might jump right out of her chest at the moment. It hadn't mattered what Ruby got her, but now...she felt like the most special, treasured person in the world.

"I guess that leaves…" Blake began before trailing off and glancing at Weiss, who took a deep breath and prepared to present her gift to Ruby.

After much thought and consideration, she hadn't bought anything. That's what logic and social norms told her to do, but it just didn't feel right to her. Based on the gifts her teammates saw fit to give this holiday season, that intuition was correct.

Today wasn't about buying the nicest or most expensive gift - it was about doing something for each other that showed how much they cared. It was proof that they already knew each other well, even though The Winter Challenge showed them that they still had more to learn. So, instead of pulling out her charge card as she normally did, she made something that she hoped Ruby enjoyed or at least appreciated. It was something she hadn't done in a long time, which made it a little more difficult than usual, but the results were to her satisfaction.

Her gift was also just a piece of paper, which she'd folded into thirds and handed to Ruby with multiplying nerves. That feeling only grew when Ruby unfolded the paper, treating it like the most fragile thing in existence, before staring at what was written inside.

"It's a...song?"

"Yes." Weiss attempted a quick smile but suddenly realized how horribly lame her gift was. A song - she wrote a song. That was nothing special. Even though she spent a long time on the lyrics and felt they matched Ruby perfectly, it was _only_ -

"A song," Ruby repeated before breaking into one of the brightest smiles Weiss had ever seen. "You wrote it for me?"

That smile was so disarming, Weiss temporarily lost her words.

"I - yes," she stammered, only regaining her focus when Ruby's attention returned to the page in her hands. "About you, actually…"

"Jeez Weiss -"

Before Yang finished the sentence, Weiss flipped one of the shut up cards across the room, which Blake caught out of the air while Yang sighed. "I had a good one too..." was all she muttered before obediently falling silent and allowing Weiss to focus on Ruby's reaction.

"_About_ me," Ruby said before giving Weiss a look filled with hope. "You'll sing it for me later?"

"Of course. That was the plan, at least…"

"I...love it. And I can't wait to hear it!" Before Weiss could react, Ruby wrapped her in a hug, then pulled away and kissed her cheek. It was the cheek kiss that _really_ convinced Weiss that Ruby liked the gift, while also making her blush at such casual affection.

Maybe her idea wasn't so horrible, after all. She would be a bundle of nerves singing for Ruby later on, but...knowing that Ruby loved the idea made it all worth it.

"That's really sweet, Weiss," Blake added from across the room. Her endorsement deepened Weiss' blush, but, fortunately, she quickly changed the subject - almost as if she was coming to Weiss' aid.

"You know...I'm glad we got to spend this week together."

"It was nice, wasn't it?" Yang agreed while sharing a warm smile with her partner. Her partner - the ex-White Fang member - who just expressed more sentiment in one sentence than she normally did in a month.

"Agreed!" Ruby added with a grin. "But the question is...what do we do now?"

Everyone turned towards Weiss at the question, suggesting that she _might _be the most opinionated on her team. But she didn't want to always tell them what to do and why. Well, maybe she did, but she was in far too good of a mood right now to care what they spent their day on. From the success of her gifts and all the gifts she'd received in return...she could be in a great mood for the rest of the week.

"Well, classes start tomorrow..." When Yang groaned, Weiss shot her a look and added, "So I think we should enjoy today as much as possible."

Just like that, Yang's jaw dropped.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"I am," she replied, trying to hide a smile but failing miserably.

"A free day?" Yang asked before reaching over to give Ruby a high five. "You finally broke her, Ruby - she actually wants a day off."

Ruby giggled at the response before hugging Weiss and nuzzling into her neck, which made her cheeks burn hotter and her heart thump loudly. Her initial intent was to argue that she didn't necessarily _want _a day off, but that motivation was lost in the smell of Ruby's hair and strength in her arms.

Ruby's arms were _strong_. If anyone attempted to swing Crescent Rose with any real speed, they would understand why. Weiss certainly did, and she also enjoyed the enviable side effect…

"I have an idea," Yang added. "How 'bout we go to Vale and get something special for lunch? Sort of a...back to school celebration?"

By leading with food, she won Ruby's approval in a heartbeat.

"That sounds fun!" Ruby then turned puppy dog eyes on Weiss, who sighed in pretend exasperation.

"I suppose that sounds like a good idea," she replied, even though she wholeheartedly agreed with that plan. She couldn't _fully_ endorse one of Yang's ideas, however - she saved those moments for when she really needed them.

"What do you think?" Yang asked Blake, the two of them back to smiling like fools at one another. "I'm sure we can find you some great tuna."

"That sounds nice," was Blake's reply and, with that, their course was set. Yang patted her legs before standing to get ready, and Blake moved to follow.

With half of the team preparing to leave, Weiss carefully set her new binder on the end of her bed before heading to her desk to collect her bag. While she tucked her scroll inside and double-checked for money, Ruby appeared by her elbow and gave her shoulder a soft tap.

"You had a good week too, right?"

Turning towards Ruby, Weiss thought about the past few days and smiled. Honestly, she couldn't have imagined a better week - minus the short period of angst towards the end. But everything worked out. Even though Blake and Yang were still in that stage of adorable bashfulness, Weiss was confident they were meant for each other.

Then there was Ruby...who was an incredible joy to spend so much time with. While the team challenges had seemed silly and childish, Weiss _did _feel closer to Ruby now than ever before, which was a wonderful thing.

"I had a great week," she replied, her heart warming when Ruby beamed.

"I did too! I love spending time with you - capturing flags in the snow, looking for random keys in the forest, talking to the upperclassmen..."

As soon as Ruby brought up the memory of Coco's dare, her cheeks flushed - causing an identical reaction from Weiss, who answered with a succinct "The entire week was great."

"Even though we didn't win?"

Before answering Ruby's question, Weiss remembered how determined she'd been to win The Winter Challenge and earn the 'prestige' that came with it. In the end, other things were more important - like spending time with her team, with Ruby, and growing closer as friends.

"I'm ok with losing," she finally answered and noted the relief in Ruby's eyes. "Besides, we got something even better than a combat room in the end."

"We did?"

When Yang walked out of the bathroom and immediately blushed upon seeing Blake, Weiss grinned.

"Don't you enjoy seeing this side of your sister?" she whispered before reaching for Ruby's hand and leading them out of the room. Hearing the door close behind her, she glanced over her shoulder and confirmed Blake and Yang were following at their own pace.

"I guess…" Ruby furrowed her brow for a few moments before shaking her head. "She's a lot happier, which I like."

"What do you like, pipsqueak?" Yang called out from behind them, drawing Ruby's gaze and a bright smile.

"I like when you're happy!" Ruby replied without hesitation, and Yang laughed while Weiss smiled and shook her head.

Now that Yang had joined the conversation, she and Ruby would chat all the way to the airship station like they normally did. Today, however, their energy and excitement felt more contagious than usual. Maybe because of the holiday, maybe because of the gifts, maybe because of the events of the week - whatever it was, they were excited. Their excitement made Weiss excited, and even Blake looked more upbeat than usual.

It was Blake caught who Weiss' gaze as Ruby and Yang raced up the steps to the airship station (Ruby won, as usual), and Weiss could tell they were thinking the same thing. How fortunate were they to have such great partners? And now, in Blake's case, such a great girlfriend?

"We'll get tickets!" Ruby announced from the top of the steps before she and Yang raced to the ticket counter. She tried to use her semblance, but Yang grabbed her just in time and lifted her up in the air while she squealed with happiness.

Weiss couldn't help but smile at the spectacle, and Blake gave a little huff of amusement as the sisters joined the line at the ticket booth. They weren't the only students looking to take advantage of their last day of freedom, but the line was moving quickly.

"I have to ask," Blake spoke up after several seconds of silence. "How did you know? That I...how I felt about Yang?"

Weiss smiled at the question, which confirmed that Blake was unaware of the clues she left for everyone to see.

"A lot of little things," Weiss explained, turning away from Ruby to meet Blake's gaze. "Like you smile at her without realizing it, you walk closer to her than anyone else, you always do things for her that you wouldn't for anyone else, and you laugh at her jokes even though most of them aren't funny."

Chuckling at the response, Blake shook her head and said, "But they _are _kind of funny."

"They really aren't," Weiss replied with a smile of her own. "But mostly, you're just...different...around her. She makes you happy, and it shows."

Not knowing how to explain it better than that, Weiss shrugged and watched Blake mull over the information. Most likely, she was cataloging her actions to make sure she didn't let something so personal slip again. Or maybe she was just curious about how Weiss figured it out when no one else had.

"I see…" After nodding several times, Blake met Weiss' eyes and smiled. "Kind of like how you're more patient with Ruby than anyone else."

"That's because she's our team leader," Weiss waved off, but Blake gave her a look.

"Is it?"

"_Yes_." Weiss put her hands on her hips and scoffed at the implication it was anything but. "It would be disrespectful to lose my patience with her all the time, wouldn't it?"

"Then why do you always give her a cookie at lunch?"

"The cookie comes with lunch," she replied with another dismissive wave. "And I'm not fond of sweets."

"You have a choice - a cookie or bowl of fruit."

_But Ruby likes the cookie_ was what Weiss wanted to say, but that did nothing for her argument. Instead, she pursed her lips and searched for a path out of the conversation. Fortunately, an opportunity presented itself when Ruby and Yang rejoined them.

"Got 'em!" Ruby announced while waving several tickets in the air.

"Let's get this show on the road," Yang added, taking Blake's hand and gently pulling her away. Blake didn't leave, however, without first catching Weiss' gaze.

"Think about it," was all she said before leaning into Yang's side when Yang wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Think about what?" Ruby asked while they headed towards the nearby airship.

After scoffing at Blake's implication, Weiss turned towards Ruby prepared to dismiss everything that was just said. Instead, she stopped and realized how close Ruby was standing. But...Ruby always stood this close and she didn't mind. In fact, she enjoyed their closeness. Which was weird because before Beacon she wouldn't have liked anyone standing...this close…

"Now that Yang and Blake are...you know...an _item_," Ruby said while reaching out and gently touching Weiss' elbow, sending a shiver of thrill up her arm. "They'll spend a bunch of time together - you know what that means?"

"What?" Weiss asked, struggling to keep her breathing normal while her mind raced with realization.

"We'll spend more time together too!" When Ruby smiled, butterflies fluttered through Weiss' chest. "Isn't that great?"

It _was _great. Not only were Blake and Yang happy, but now Weiss could spend more time with the person who made _her _happiest - Ruby. The person she let get away with things she would _never _tolerate from someone else, who she often went out of her way to do things for, who she also thought was funny if not a bit of a dork, but a lovable dork...

When Ruby reached down and casually took Weiss' hand to lead them towards the airship, she realized that she wasn't observant after all. If she was, she would have noticed the way holding Ruby's hand made her heart cartwheel in her chest, or how close she wanted to be to Ruby, or how much she yearned for Ruby's smile, laugh, touch...

"Oh Grimm..."

She liked Ruby. _Of course_ she did. Wasn't that just...entirely obvious...


	14. Chapter 14

**Another story wrapped up! Thanks for reading along, and I hope to see you for the next one!**

* * *

How was it possible to _feel_ someone's presence? How could her skin tingle from someone's proximity alone? Goosebumps even raised on her arms, hopefully unnoticeable to those who weren't paying close attention.

When Ruby shifted in her seat, uncrossing her legs and leaning towards Weiss in the process, every inch of Weiss buzzed with emotions. For the life of her, she couldn't hear a word Professor Port said - not until Ruby moved away and resumed her doodling. Only then did Weiss exhale the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Was this seriously what Yang and Blake suffered through for the last few months? How had they survived? It felt like her nerves came alive whenever Ruby was nearby, and she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out how to maintain an ounce of composure under such circumstances.

"Weiss."

Hearing her name in a hushed whisper, she turned and smiled when she caught Ruby's gaze. As usual, Ruby was excited about something - something she shared by sliding her notebook over.

Unsurprisingly, there were no notes on the page. Instead, there was a beautiful drawing of Myrtenaster, complete with enough detail that Weiss wondered if Ruby sometimes just stared at the weapon to memorize every line. If not, how could she recreate it so perfectly?

There was one noticeable difference though, which Weiss would have spotted even if Ruby hadn't drawn arrows towards it. This version had Weiss' name engraved in the hilt, reminiscent of Ruby's fake Christmas gift. Surprisingly, it looked really nice. It wasn't too large or noticeable, and Ruby wrote it in a decorative cursive Weiss hadn't even known she was capable of. Above the drawing was a single sentence written in Ruby's signature scrawl: 'I can do it for you, if you want.'

The unexpected and generous offer had Weiss' heart fluttering in no time. While she typically hired trained professionals to work on Myrtenaster, she had every confidence in Ruby's skill with weapons. Crescent Rose rivaled Myrtenaster in craftsmanship, after all, which spoke well of the creator. Besides, it was only an inscription, which Ruby could probably do with one hand. It also looked nice, and...Weiss liked the idea of Ruby adding something to Myrtenaster that would stay with them forever.

Picking up her pen, she carefully wrote 'yes, please' at the top of the page. She then paused and, before she second-guessed herself, drew a heart at the end of her answer.

It was a _heart_, not a confession, but her heart raced as she pushed the notebook back to Ruby, who read the response and smiled. She probably thought nothing of the symbol - Yang used them egregiously, after all - but Weiss felt like she might pass out from putting that tiny bit of her feelings into written form.

When Ruby resumed drawing with renewed focus and determination, Weiss sighed and tried to get her pulse back to a normal level. Usually, not being able to see Ruby helped. Turning to her right, however, she discovered that Yang and Blake had just watched the entire interaction.

Blake wore a smug smile that suggested she knew exactly how Weiss felt, while Yang flashed a thumbs up and laughed softly to herself.

Feeling a blush on her cheeks, Weiss stared towards the front of the room and resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands. They found it increasingly amusing that she was now a bundle of nerves around Ruby. Stumbling over her words...saying things that made no sense...in general, making a fool of herself, which entertained them to no end. Unfortunately, she could do nothing to stop it.

How the mighty had fallen...from skilled matchmaker to bumbling, love-struck idiot in no time.

Winter break ended only a few weeks ago, but it might as well have been several months. Every day she rediscovered the depths of her feelings for Ruby, and it was...a little torturous. But she couldn't stop or deny her feelings. She already went through a brief period of denial before realizing that Blake was right - she _liked _Ruby. A lot.

For the life of her, she couldn't pinpoint when it happened. Or how. Or why. But what she was thinking, falling for her partner? They were supposed to be teammates, partners, best friends, but nothing more. Being _more _was Blake and Yang's thing. They were the ones tripping over each other. They were the ones who liked each other in _that _way.

The only logical reason Weiss came up with (being logical in this state of mind was exceptionally difficult to do) was that her focus on Yang and Blake's feelings had clouded her otherwise astute observation of her own emotions. While so busy trying to get her teammates together, she failed to notice how close she and Ruby had become with hardly any effort.

That was the scariest part - it took no effort on her part. She didn't expend a single drop of energy in falling for Ruby. It just...happened.

Now, however, she needed to figure out _what _to do with these feelings. As much fun as it was to be a bundle of giddy, butterfly-filled energy, there were classes and homework and responsibilities and training...training was probably the hardest part, especially when Ruby wanted to work as partners.

Feeling another bump on her elbow, Weiss turned as Ruby's notebook slid back into view. This time, Ruby made Weiss' point better than she could have herself, courtesy of a series of sketches for what could only be a new combat move she wanted to try. Even though it was only a sketch, Weiss' cheeks heated up just _thinking _about practicing it, which Ruby would want to do soon.

Had they always touched each other so much? It seemed like everything they did involved Ruby holding her in some way, especially as they explored the capabilities of Ruby's semblance. During their most recent practice, Weiss abruptly (and not at all calmly) requested a break to cool her steaming cheeks and regain control of her emotions.

At least Blake and Yang hadn't suffered through hours of having each other's arms wrapped around each other's waists in a way that felt so intimate yet was anything but. Well, for Ruby it was anything but intimate. For Weiss, those lines blurred as time progressed.

Still, she nodded and smiled before moving the notebook back to Ruby, her silent agreement to try yet another strategy that would have her blushing the entire time. What else was she going to do - say no? She couldn't do that without Ruby asking questions or worse - hurting Ruby's feelings.

Besides...she didn't want to say no. This experience was fun and exhilarating in a way she'd never felt before. Even though she had no idea what she was doing or what to expect, she couldn't help wanting more of that feeling.

Feeling someone tap her elbow, she looked over and watched Blake turn her notebook to the side. At the bottom of the page was a little drawing of Weiss with hearts for eyes and even more hearts floating above her head. She gave Blake a dirty look for the 'art,' but Blake merely smiled and withdrew her notebook so Ruby wouldn't see.

Blake and Yang were the worst. Now that they were 'official,' they did everything together - including teasing Weiss about her growing crush on Ruby. They were also, officially, more annoying than Weiss was when she got them together.

There were _two_ of them. Two. Which meant that one of them was always around to witness her make a fool of herself. Even when she _thought_ they weren't around, Blake still somehow overheard. And, even when she double and triple checked that the dynamic duo were on the opposite side of campus, Yang pulled stories out of Ruby with the ease of a baker making cookies.

At least Weiss didn't need to worry about gaining their approval. If Yang had any issue with the idea of them..._being together_...surely she would have said something by now. Blake hadn't given any indication that she was opposed to it either. They had, however, made it fairly obvious that they didn't expect anything to happen anytime soon.

That made three of them.

"Alright students," Professor Port said, and the class immediately grew restless and noisy as he barreled through his signoff. Textbooks flipped shut, bags unzipped, chairs pushed back, and conversations started as soon as he granted them a big, boisterous "Have a _great _day."

With a free afternoon looming in front of them, Weiss took her time collecting her belongings rather than fight the crowd through the door.

"What're we gonna do now?" Yang asked while standing and stretching her back. It gave several painful cracks before she smiled and grabbed her bag. "Back to the room?"

"That sounds nice." Blake smiled when Yang reached for her hand and, as usual, the two glued themselves to each other's sides. It really wasn't much of a change from how things were before, except now they realized how much of a couple they were. That, and they did some _strictly_ couple things when alone (or when they _thought_ they were alone and didn't bother to confirm whether or not that was true).

"Then food later!"

Weiss turned and blushed upon finding Ruby standing right beside her. It felt normal - and she loved it - but now she realized how abnormal it was. She let Ruby so close because _she _wanted to be close, but how did Ruby feel? Why did she stand so near? Was she used to it because Yang was her sister? Could it be something more, or was that wishful thinking?

"That sounds like a good plan," Weiss agreed before following her team out of the room. They had reports and studying to do, but she couldn't help wondering when Ruby wanted to train next. She _especially_ wanted to know when they would try out that new combat move. If she was lucky, just the two of them would work on it before inviting Yang and Blake along. She'd already suffered enough embarrassment in front of them to last a lifetime, she didn't need to add to it.

That train of thought disappeared when Ruby brushed against her elbow and her heart skipped a beat. She silently scolded herself for the reaction, but then Ruby clung to her arm, which resulted in a flurry of butterflies and heart palpitations she had no control over.

"Class wasn't too bad, right?" Ruby asked as they walked outside, clearly oblivious to the effect her proximity was having on Weiss.

"It was fine," Weiss whispered, trying to calm her heart while also savoring as much of this moment as possible.

"Oh!" Ruby continued, squeezing Weiss' arm with the word before looking behind them. "Yang! I just remembered this weekend is Dagger-Con!"

"Oh...right." After sharing a look with Blake, Yang put on a, excessively apologetic expression that would have convinced Professor Goodwitch out of dispensing punishment. "Sorry, Ruby. I don't think I can go this year…Blake and I have this...uh -"

"Paper to finish," Blake jumped in. "Professor Oobleck expects it first thing Monday morning."

When Yang gave an innocent smile, Weiss narrowed her eyes. She knew they didn't have a paper to turn in Monday morning. How did she know that? Because she'd taken it upon herself to keep close tabs of her teammates' homework so that no one 'missed' or 'forgot' an assignment. Right as she was about to point this out, however, Yang caught her gaze and grinned.

"But I'm sure Weiss will go with you!"

Her jaw snapped shut at the suggestion.

"Would you really?" Still holding onto Weiss' arm, Ruby turned excited silver eyes her way. "That'd be so much fun! Please, Weiss? Please?"

"O-of course," Weiss stammered and, when Ruby gave a happy hop at the response, her heart did a full series of loops and twirls in her chest.

"We'll get to spend the whole day together looking at weapons and more weapons!"

"The entire day?"

"Yeah! We'll get there early - do you wanna get breakfast first? - then spend the morning in the convention hall. Then we'll get lunch, and then dinner - it'll be great! An entire day of you and me!"

That sounded like heaven, if her heart survived it. When she looked at Yang, shell-shocked at the turn of events, Yang winked and mouthed 'you're welcome' while Blake looked entirely too pleased about the situation. Apparently, this was payback for the meddling she did, but she wasn't sure if she was upset or not. Yang just ceded an entire day of alone time with Ruby, so...it was hard to be upset.

"We can look at the new dust tech!" Ruby babbled on while they entered their dorm building. "And the new weapons for sale - those are always fun. And the custom stuff. I always want those things...then we can get lunch at one of the awesome restaurants nearby. Maybe we can get stuff to-go and take it back with us..."

"Maybe you can kiss too."

Blake's comment was flippant, but Ruby froze and Weiss' cheeks instantly reached catastrophic levels of heat.

"W-what?" Ruby stammered, but Blake shrugged, looking far too casual for her own good.

"Just an idea."

Now _that _was payback.

Noticing Ruby's stunned expression, Weiss switched into damage control mode.

"Don't listen to her," she said, shooting a glare at Blake's back while she and Yang walked away. "She's just being catty."

Blake's ears flicked at the comment, but Ruby quickly recaptured Weiss' attention.

"I-I know that!" For a second, that seemed to be the entire response. Then Ruby blushed and looked away. "I mean, it's not like we haven't before..."

Now it was Weiss' turn to blush, which she did while turning away and prodding Ruby into their room. Coco's dare had never loomed larger than it did right now, when Weiss realized that they had, in fact, kissed before. On the cheek, but a kiss was a kiss, right?

Although, what had Coco said…'You call that a kiss?'

Weiss glanced at Ruby before immediately looking away. It _was _a kiss, but it wasn't _a kiss_. Certainly not on the level Yang and Blake had already graduated to. Which, from the few instances Weiss accidentally interrupted, were filled with emotions she couldn't begin to describe. She also couldn't imagine what that even felt like.

With another glance at Ruby, her blush grew, and she decided to stare at her desk while emptying the contents of her bag rather than make eye contact with anyone. Maybe she could imagine, and it gave her more butterflies than she'd ever felt before. She'd never sought out that type of romance before, but if Ruby wanted to...she certainly wouldn't be opposed to it.

Honestly, she needed to get these feelings and desires under control. The last thing she needed was to fantasize about her partner _even more_ than she already did. Schoolwork was hard to concentrate on when all she wanted to do was imagine how Ruby's lips felt instead.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Ruby asked as she sat on the edge of Weiss' bed. Blake shrugged at the question, but the way she dragged a book off of the bedstand and scooted back on her bed suggested she already had plans for the evening.

"I have an idea." When Yang motioned Ruby back to her feet, she obediently hopped up in preparation for whatever this idea was. "Why don't we grab some food and bring it back for our girlfriends?"

Weiss' heart stopped beating at the same moment Ruby's eyes widened.

"G-girlfriends?" Ruby asked with a nervous chuckle and glance at Weiss.

"I mean partners." Setting a hand on Ruby's shoulder, Yang gave a smooth smile before leading Ruby towards the door. "They _are_ girls, after all…"

"Yeah, but -" When Ruby looked over her shoulder, Weiss forced her best reassuring smile rather than an 'I'm silently freaking out about the word too' one. It seemed to work, because Ruby grinned and hopped through the door with her sister, but not before a chipper "yeah, you're right" floated back to their ears.

Yang was right? About which part? About Blake and Weiss being girls or about...about the girlfriend part? Most likely the former, but what if it was the latter? Dammit, Yang. She used the word so cavalierly, then didn't even give Weiss the opportunity to hear a decent response.

After setting the last of her notebooks on the desk, she dropped her bag on the floor and sighed. This situation was ridiculous. These feelings were ridiculous. And all of these emotions, which made her say and do things she would never have done before, were ridiculous.

Enough was enough. She had to do something about this. Otherwise...who knew what would happen. It could get _worse_ for all she knew.

"Ok," she said while spinning towards Blake. "I can't take this anymore."

"Finally breaking?" Blake replied with an amused smile, somehow knowing exactly what Weiss was talking about. But _of course_ she knew what Weiss was talking about - Ruby was about the only thing she talked about these days.

"This is killing me," she elaborated. "Literally killing me. Everything she does - everything she says - it's all so..." Trying to think of the right word, she lifted her hand and scrunched her nose but came up empty.

"Cute?" Blake offered.

"Yes!" Weiss breathed out. "It's horrible and wonderful at the same time, and if she feels even a tiny bit of this - I...I just need to tell her. Then she can turn me down, and I'll get over it."

When Blake laughed at that comment, Weiss frowned. "What's so funny?"

"You think she'll turn you down?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't she?"

"Because she likes you."

Weiss didn't even know if that was true, but her heart swooned at the _idea _of it.

"You're making that up," she replied, although she had no evidence to back her claim.

"I'm not." Blake shook her head when Weiss frowned. "Seriously, I'm not. I talked to her a couple days ago, and that's basically what she said."

'"Basically' what she said?"

"It's Ruby. You know she'll never say it how we think she will."

"Then what _did _she say?"

"She said you're pretty -" One sentence in, and Weiss' heart fluttered. "And smart, and funny, and the _best _partner she could have asked for. She loves spending time with you, and training with you, and talking to you -"

"Ok," Weiss held up a hand before Blake made her heart explode from all the compliments. She knew Ruby liked being her partner, but...more than that? Sometimes, she felt like they were already there - like they were that couple who'd been together for years. There was such a sense of comfort and ease being around each other, like it was meant to be. Sometimes, she thought Ruby felt it too.

Maybe all that was missing was one of them being open and honest with the other. Maybe this was more similar to Blake and Yang than she wanted to believe. Maybe they were only missing that last step, which was the hardest yet most crucial to take.

"I need to tell her," she decided. And, with her decision firm and final, she felt the same determination as she did when approaching a big test or performance. That was, until she thought about how much she liked Ruby and, in a sense, _needed_ Ruby in her life. That realization took a needle to her courage and sent her back to one of the people she trusted most.

"Will you help me?"

"Seriously?" Blake asked while raising her brow. "You're asking _me _for help?"

"Yes."

"I think you need to talk to Yang."

"But Yang's not here right now."

After thinking about the response for a long time, Blake sighed and waved one hand.

"Fine...then let's...practice, or something."

Practice sounded like a great idea. Weiss could figure out exactly what to say, memorize it, and tell Ruby. Then most likely be rejected, and hurt, and upset, but eventually get over it and move on.

But _what if_ Ruby liked her too? What would she do then? She had no idea how to be in a relationship. All she knew was that after spending so long trying to get Blake and Yang together, and cursing them for being irrevocable boneheads, she couldn't be a hypocrite by doing the same things they did.

"Ok." She was going to do this, but first she took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. "I guess I'll...pretend you're Ruby."

"Sure."

Blake was basically the anti-Ruby, but Weiss could pretend. Or she could pretend the bed was Ruby - that might be easier.

"Ok," she repeated one more time before telling herself to get on with it. "Ruby -" she grimaced at how awkward it was to call Blake by Ruby's name but carried on anyway. "I need to tell you something."

"Ok…"

Blake's semi-bored drawl was not at all how Ruby would respond, but Weiss ignored it and continued.

"It's important," she added, knowing that she needed to use the word 'important' to gain Ruby's full attention. "It's about...us."

'Us' was a two-letter word - why did it make her heart flutter?

"What about us?" Blake asked, still lacking over half of Ruby's baseline energy. But now, Weiss didn't know where to go. Where should she begin?

"W-well, I wanted to say that...I think our relationship has changed…" When Blake's brow raised, Weiss waved her hands. "Nevermind - forget that," she said before starting over. "I wanted to tell you that...I've been feeling...different recently."

"Different how?" Blake asked. "In a bad way? Are you mad at me?"

"Dammit," Weiss muttered before shaking her head. "Ok, not that either. How about...how about - we've been spending a lot of time together recently, and...it's made me realize that…"

That what? That she liked Ruby to the moon and back? That she internally squealed like a hopeless schoolgirl at every cute thing Ruby did, which was _everything?_ That her heart just about jumped out of her chest every time Ruby so much as touched her?

"I think you need to go simpler," Blake suggested. "Just come right out and say it, then explain why."

Just say it? Weiss could do that. Probably.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out in a long exhale, she focused on Blake and on what she wanted to say.

"Ruby, I...like you. I-in a...more than friend type of way..."

"I like you in a more than friend way too," Blake replied. "You know why? Because we're _partners_." When Weiss sighed and slumped in her seat, Blake shook her head. "Maybe you're not ready for this."

"I am!" Weiss insisted, even though this practice implied otherwise. "I'm ready - I can tell her. I _want _to tell her. Besides, I don't think I'll survive much longer with you and Yang constantly forcing us together." When Blake smirked at their see-through ploy, Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, you've been so sneaky about it too," she added before thinking about Ruby and sighing once more. "It's just...hard."

"You act like I don't understand."

"No, I know you do," Weiss said while frowning towards Ruby's bed. "I just...never expected this to happen, so I wasn't prepared. And I don't like feeling unprepared."

That was the crux of the issue, wasn't it? If she'd known this would happen, she could have prepared for it. She could have planned exactly what she wanted to do and laid the groundwork to make sure Ruby liked her too. Instead, she found herself knee-deep in a massive crush with no idea how Ruby felt in return. It was a vulnerable position to be in, and she didn't like that - nor did she know how to get herself out of it without hurting herself or Ruby.

"You can't prepare yourself for something like this," Blake replied, drawing Weiss' gaze to her kind, patient smile. "You can't guard yourself against it, or swear you'll never let it happen to you. Sometimes...we find someone and everything just...clicks. You can fight it all you want, but why?"

In a few sentences, Blake said more than Weiss would have expected. Of course, ever since she and Yang became an official couple, she'd been more open and honest about her feelings than she was before. Whether that was Yang's effect or a conscious effort to change, Weiss didn't know. Regardless of the cause, it was a good change - a healthy one - and Blake seemed to know that too.

Was Ruby the same for Weiss? A source of positive change - a drive to make her a better person? She thought so, and that was only one of the reasons she liked Ruby so much.

"Ok." Straightening in her seat, she briefly organized her thoughts before pressing forward with renewed determination. "Ruby, I _like_ you - more than friends, more than partners. I like you...like how Yang likes Blake."

Blake blushed at the analogy, but Weiss knew she had to use it. Ruby would understand that, as she'd witnessed firsthand exactly how much Yang liked Blake. She'd also witnessed exactly what types of...couple-y actions...that heightened version of 'like' entailed.

"I think she'll get that," Blake agreed, and Weiss nodded as some more nerves appeared. Now that she had an idea of what to say, she knew what Blake would ask next, and she didn't know the answer.

"When will you tell her?"

It wasn't long ago that she swore to be upfront if she ever found herself in Blake or Yang's position. _She_ would communicate her feelings as soon as she realized them. _She_ wouldn't let the opportunity go to waste. _She_ would do better.

As it turned out, the situation was harder than it looked. The last thing she wanted to do was say something too soon and push Ruby away or worse, ruin what they had. Remaining close friends would be more than enough for her. But at the same time, it wasn't enough at all.

At this point, Ruby deserved to know. Whatever their relationship was, whatever their chances were of being something more...waiting longer probably wouldn't have much of an impact. Which meant Weiss shouldn't wait.

"Well…" she began, but jumped when the door burst open and slammed against the wall. Shocked by the entrance, she stared as Ruby raced into the room.

"Ruby! What are you doing? What's wrong?"

"You can't go out with him!" When Ruby grabbed Weiss' hands, she felt an all-too-familiar jolt in her heart. This time, however, that feeling was combined with more than a little confusion.

"I...what?"

"Yang said you have a date with Neptune!" Ruby explained, which only confused Weiss further. "And you can't go out with him because...because you shouldn't! You're way too good for him - plus, I - I like you!"

'Shocked' couldn't begin to describe how Weiss felt right now. From an unknown and unheard-of date with Neptune to...a confession? How? Why? What the hell happened when Ruby and Yang went to grab food?

"...what?" she asked again, and shot a glance at Blake only to confirm the girl was just as surprised as she was.

"I, uh, you know...like you..." Ruby replied, losing her confidence by the second. "And thought you should know that before...uh, nevermind!"

Ruby nearly disappeared out the door, but Weiss grabbed her hand and held her in place.

"Wait."

Again, Weiss felt unprepared. Even though she practiced what to say, the situation remained out of her control. But...of course it did. It was Ruby, and Ruby had her own way of doing things. Whenever she thought she knew exactly what to expect, Ruby surprised her - but she liked a good surprise every once in a while.

"You like me?"

The way Ruby shuffled her feet and blushed was more than enough of an answer, and Weiss' heart burst into thousands of butterflies.

"Uh...I do...but like, don't worry if, like, you don't feel the same..."

Now Weiss couldn't stop smiling - at how relieved she was that she _wouldn't _be rejected, and at how cute Ruby was now that she was embarrassed. A glance confirmed that both Yang and Blake were watching closely - not exactly the most private moment to have this conversation but, surprisingly, she didn't mind much. They already knew how she felt, which was probably the only reason why they stayed. They knew her answer and...maybe their presence was support, in a way. A subtle reminder that they _did_ know, and wanted her to see this through.

"Ruby," she said while squeezing Ruby's hand and taking a deep breath. "I like you too."

Saying the words aloud was equal parts relieving and terrifying, but she focused on the relief while waiting for Ruby's response.

"You...do?"

"I do."

"But like...more than friends?" Ruby clarified, and Weiss glanced at Blake before laughing.

"Yes, more than friends - more than partners too," she added before Ruby beat her to it. And when Ruby smiled, Weiss felt a smile of her own appear.

"Like...how Yang likes Blake?" Ruby asked, and Weiss' smile grew while noticing the little fist pump Yang did off to the side.

"Exactly like that."

"You're serious?" Ruby was excited now, and that feeling quickly spread to Weiss as well.

"_Yes_." She couldn't believe she was saying this to Ruby, of all people. She couldn't believe Ruby liked her too, but...apparently, she should.

Now, she wondered - were they as obvious as Blake and Yang were? Did she even care? Her cheeks hurt from smiling right now, but she'd never expected something like this to happen. Not for someone like her, who was difficult to deal with on the best of days. Having close friends - and best friends - already felt like a dream come true. Having a...more than friend...was something she'd never dared hope for.

"_Now_ you can kiss," Blake interjected after they smiled at each other for too long. But Weiss' cheeks warmed at the thought, and she looked away when she noticed Ruby blushing too.

"Oh yeah, they're not there yet," Yang replied with a chuckle.

"They really aren't."

"Yangggg…" Ruby whined while Yang walked over and poked Weiss in the side.

"Come on, Weiss," Yang teased. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

Weiss took one look at Ruby and, upon seeing the blush on Ruby's cheeks, turned away. She _did_. At least, she wanted to _try_, but not with her teammates in the room.

"Maybe she needs permission," Yang whispered to Ruby - loudly. "You've gotta give her permission, Ruby."

"Yanggg…"

When Yang laughed, way too amused by the situation at hand, Weiss grabbed one of the shut up cards from her desk and flipped it over to the girl. For some reason, that only made Yang more amused, as she snatched the card from the air and mimed zipping her lips. After 'tossing' Weiss the key, Yang reached for Blake's hand and whispered, "worked like a charm...looks like you lost."

"I wouldn't stoop so low," Blake replied, which made Yang laugh.

"You _literally _tried the same thing last week. You just chose the wrong horse in this race."

The two grabbed their scrolls to leave, but Weiss' cheeks burned at the memory of Ruby's fake date with Jaune. She nearly put the poor boy through a wall before realizing it was a trick.

"Have fun," Blake told them before leading Yang out of the room, which increased the temperature of Weiss' blush. Yang only added to the heat when she bumped into Ruby on the way, forcing her to step into Weiss before hurriedly backing away.

"Sorry," Ruby mumbled, but Weiss shook her head at the apology. Once the door closed and silence returned to the room, Ruby cleared her throat and met Weiss' gaze.

"So, uh, are you sure?"

To Weiss, the question seemed silly. Was she sure? How could she not be? What was the other explanation for these feelings that refused to go away?

To Ruby, however, it might not be as clear - and that was partially Weiss' fault. For as much as she told herself she would communicate, she wasn't as good at it as she hoped.

"I'm sure." It still made her nervous to admit that out loud, but she was determined to put these words out there for Ruby to hear. "You're funny and kind and wonderful, and I really love...being around you."

With every word Weiss said, Ruby's smile grew, and that put an unexpectedly powerful and encouraging feeling in her heart. It made her want to say more - to make it even clearer how and why she liked Ruby the way she did. Ruby deserved to know and, if she was open to hearing it, Weiss wanted to tell her.

"I like being around you more than anyone else," she added, and felt her heart grow in turn. "That's why I've wanted to tell you too. You just...beat me to it."

One day, she would explain how she _literally_ just practiced what she wanted to say - that she was right on the cusp of telling Ruby too. But...those were stories for later.

"Yeah…" After shuffling closer, Ruby hesitantly reached out and touched Weiss' hand. The simple touch, which they usually did multiple times a day, had so much more significance now. Still, Weiss smiled and intertwined her fingers with Ruby's, even though doing so made it feel like her heart might explode.

"We were walking to the cafeteria, and Yang said you had a date with Neptune," Ruby explained. "And I was really sad. When I told her why, she told me to tell you right away, so...that's what I did."

From the sound of it, Weiss owed Yang a bit of gratitude. Yang and Blake both, for helping her sort through her feelings while being not at all subtle about their help and ultimate goal. Even though they weren't sneaky about it, she appreciated the help in the end.

"Well, no, I don't have a date with Neptune," she said to clear that up. "And I would never date him. Not when I...like you."

That was still surreal to say, but felt even better with each subsequent issuance. From the size of Ruby's smile, she felt the same way about hearing it.

"But what do we do now?" This was the part Weiss had feared - the part where she had no idea what to do or what it meant to be in a relationship. Those nerves disappeared, however, when Ruby shrugged and smiled.

"I dunno. I don't think we have to do anything special. We just...spend time together."

It _was_ that easy, wasn't it? That's how Weiss stumbled into these feelings, to begin with - because it was that easy. Maybe she and Ruby had no idea what they were doing, but she knew they could spend days together without ever running out of things to say. She knew she'd rather spend time with Ruby than anyone else in Remnant. And now...they could experience everything with no feelings barred to them.

"How about we try out that new combat move you designed?" Sensing Ruby's confusion, Weiss motioned with her elbow towards Ruby's notebooks. The moment Ruby caught on, her blush reappeared, but she still smiled.

"That sounds like fun!"

While Ruby rushed over to her bed to gather her notebook, Weiss took a deep breath and wondered when her heart would slow to a normal speed. When Ruby retook her hand, however, she realized it wouldn't be anytime soon.

"Ready?" Ruby asked, and waited for Weiss' nod before leading them towards the training rooms.

Everything was the same, except it wasn't. They often held hands, but now they were _holding hands_. Not as friends, not as partners, but as more than that.

It would take some getting used to.

"How long have you known?" Weiss asked while they walked down the hall, feeling awkward by more comfortable with each step.

"I think I figured it out over winter break." When Weiss raised her brow, Ruby smiled and nodded. "We got to spend so much time together, I realized that I liked you a lot. And not the same type of like as I feel for Jaune or anyone else." After a brief pause to think about that realization, Ruby shook her head and turned Weiss' way. "What about you? How long have you known?"

"About the same time," Weiss answered with a smile. Another round of butterflies fluttered through her chest when Ruby squeezed her hand, but this time she embraced them rather than will them away.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on her, however. By spending the entirety of winter break trying to get Blake and Yang together, she unwittingly put herself in the position to spend more time with Ruby. Doing so unlocked the feelings she'd never expected to find, but now wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

If anything, observing Blake and Yang's blossoming feelings had helped Weiss deal with her own. And, not to be forgotten, she finally understood the true importance of The Winter Challenge. While the individual events were pointless to their progression as huntresses, the overarching lesson was one she would always remember: If they wanted to become a better team, they had to work on the bonds between them just as much as their combat strategies. By doing so, they grew closer as teammates, friends, and partners, which made them better, stronger huntresses in the long run.

In the case of her team, they grew so much closer that she was confident they would be the best team at Beacon in no time. But first, she had to learn how to look at Ruby without blushing...


End file.
